


I'm in Hell

by buoyantsaturn



Series: I'm in Hell [6]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Babysitter Nico di Angelo, Car Accidents, College Student Nico di Angelo, Doctor Will Solace, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, M/M, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Single Parent Will Solace, Slow Burn, Writer Nico di Angelo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2019-09-24 05:57:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 99,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17095148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buoyantsaturn/pseuds/buoyantsaturn
Summary: Will is moving to New York to start a new job. Nico needs inspiration for his writing. Bianca might be the one that brings them together.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [I'm in Hell, I've Got to Tell Somebody Now](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9096175) by [buoyantsaturn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/buoyantsaturn/pseuds/buoyantsaturn). 



> part one of the rewrite is finally here! enjoy!!

Will hadn’t been planning on moving halfway through his residency, but one of his attendings had recommended him to a program in New York, and he couldn’t turn down the experience of a better education. Even if it meant moving away from home, but then again, he couldn’t live with his mother forever. 

What was most likely going to prove the most difficult, however, would be transferring his daughter to a new elementary school once they’d moved. He’d done his research on the nearby schools when he’d been house hunting, but he was afraid of uprooting her from the only home she’d ever known. What if she couldn’t make new friends, or if her teachers didn’t know how to handle her hyperactivity? 

Worst of all, what if Will couldn’t find a good babysitter? Between his crazy work schedule and all of his daughter’s life-threatening allergies, the risk-reward ratio would be  _ way  _ too unbalanced for any sane - or qualified - person to even  _ want _ the job. Will had been spoiling himself by living with his mother for so long -  _ nobody _ was a better caretaker than Naomi Solace, and how could any babysitter Will hired live up to her? 

He’d ended up on one of those babysitter websites, posting a job for the area around the house he’d bought, and found himself getting notifications for new applicants a few times a day. He’d checked all of them over while he finished up the last of his packing, but too many of them had ended up being high school students who were looking for extra money. If Will had had the average nine-to-five job, he might have considered it, but instead he rejected each of the applications and hoped that by the time they moved in, someone  _ qualified _ would apply. 

Together, the three Solaces loaded up Will’s car as much as they could, shipped anything that wouldn’t fit ahead of them, and with Naomi waving in the rearview mirror, they left behind the only home they’d ever known. 

 

Nico, on the other hand, was ignoring his responsibilities and had shoved his anxiety so far down inside himself that he’d almost forgotten it was there. Almost.

He’d spent more time in the last week playing video games - sometimes connecting with Percy or Jason when they had the time, though usually by himself since the other two  _ weren’t _ ignoring the outside world - and had hardly touched his online college classes. He’d been refusing to acknowledge the deadlines on his creative writing assignments - because you couldn’t  _ force  _ creativity - though not-all-that-deep down he knew he was just afraid of his own writer’s block. If he couldn’t write some short story for a dumb college class, how did he expect that someone would want to publish one of his manuscripts? Not that he’d touched one since the spring semester had ended. If he weren’t already behind on getting his degree, and if it weren’t for everyone constantly asking about his classes, he might have considered dropping all of his classes for the semester and starting again in the new year. 

But he’d stopped worrying about all that. Instead, he played his video games. He took care of the cleaning and the shopping for the apartment he now shared with Hazel. He cooked dinner every night, and on the days he could hardly manage to get out of bed, Hazel ordered takeout.

He wanted to keep pretending that the world outside didn’t exist, that he could stay holed up in his room with a controller in his hands for as long as he physically could, but he knew that it would never work. He knew it was selfish, and that his family money would run out on him eventually, and that his father most definitely wouldn’t support him after all the money was gone.

So every day he opened up his laptop and looked over his classes. He would open a new document and try to force himself to type something,  _ anything,  _ and after hours he would give up. He would pick up his game controller, or would pretend that overstuffing the kitchen cabinets was more important for the time being, or he would call one of his friends.

It was Annabeth that finally gave him the idea. She offered to let Nico babysit her and Percy’s son, Luke, in the hopes that he might give Nico some spark of creativity, or that maybe he should look into babysitting somebody else’s kid for a little while. She even pointed him to a website, the place she’d been using to find babysitters for Luke, and suggested that he look into it. 

Nico never even considered that he would do it, but he found himself searching through the site one night after his eyes had grown tired of staring at empty documents. He figured it wouldn’t matter one way or another if he applied for something - it wasn’t like anyone would actually hire him. 

Then he got an email through the site, from somebody named Will Solace.

 

There were boxes in every room of the house, all in various states of unpacked, and normally Will wouldn’t have let somebody into a house that looked so disorganized and messy, but he didn’t have much of a choice. He’d finally found an applicant and had invited him over for an interview, so Will had been spending the last half hour furiously cleaning the kitchen to make sure there would be someplace they could sit for the interview. 

The knock on the door came right on time, and Will ran to the front door to open it. He took a deep breath, in and out, and smiled before pulling the door open. Will barely held himself back from gasping at the sight in front of him - the man looked  _ nothing _ like what he’d been expecting. Actually, Will had assumed that everything on the application was a lie, and that there would be a fifty-something sex offender at the door. Instead it seemed that the twenty-two year old college student was exactly who was standing before him, and he was  _ gorgeous. _

He looked a little bit uncomfortable, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his skinny jeans, and his shoulders hunched up after a moment of silence passed between them. “Uh. You’re Will Solace, right?”

Will, realizing that he’d been staring, snapped himself out of it and smiled again, opening the door wider and inviting the other inside. Now would be the perfect time to remember the name on the application, Will thought to himself.

Will led the other man to the table and they sat down across from each other. “So,” Will started, drawing out the word, “um…”

The other man raised an eyebrow. “Nico.”

“Huh?”

“My name’s Nico,” he said. “di Angelo.”

“Oh. Right, I knew that,” Will said. “Um-- I’m sorry, I’ve, uh, never done this before.”

“You’ve never hired a babysitter?” Nico repeated.

Will shook his head. “We just moved here - if you couldn’t tell from all the boxes - and I always had my mom who could watch her in the past. Anyway, um, let me just explain what I’ll need from you.”

Nico did his best to pay attention as Will spoke - this stuff would be  _ important _ if Will wanted to  _ hire him, _ Nico,  _ pay attention! _ \- but he kept getting distracted whenever Will ran a hand through his hair, or whenever he smiled, or just because Nico had subconsciously started counting Will’s freckles and wouldn’t realize until he reached twenty or so. He was pretty sure he’d caught the important stuff, like how the kid had a bunch of allergies that Nico would need to watch out for, and how Will was a doctor with a crazy schedule which meant that he might need Nico to come over at weird times. 

Once Will was done explaining everything, he said, “So, why don’t you tell me a little bit about yourself?”

Nico seemed caught off guard by the question. “Um. What do you want to know?”

Will shrugged. “Whatever you want to tell me.”

Nico hesitated, looking down at the table as he spoke. “Okay. I’m twenty-two, I’m taking online college classes. I live, like, fifteen, maybe twenty minutes away from here, so I can be here on short notice if you need me. Um…” He shrugged, glancing up at Will.

“What are you studying?” Will asked.

“Creative writing,” Nico answered. “I, uh, wanna write a book.”

Will’s eyes lit up. “Oh, that’s cool! And how are you with kids? Dumb question considering why we’re here, but you know I have to ask.”

“Um. Good, I assume? You know, or else I wouldn’t have applied.”

“Right, of course,” Will said with a smile. “And can you cook? At least, well enough not to burn the place down?”

“I’m Italian,” Nico replied, like that would answer Will’s question.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Will said, smile brightening. “I think that’s probably all I wanted to know. Do you, uh, want to meet her? You know, see if you can get along?”

“Sure,” Nico said, and the two of them stood up from the kitchen table.

As they walked to the living room, Will called out, “Bianca, could you come here, please?”

Nico felt a shock travel up his spine when he heard that name, though he tried not to let it show. He watched as a door opened up across the living room, and a little girl who looked almost nothing like her father ran up to them - she may not have looked like Will, but she certainly did look like someone else that Nico used to know.

“Bianca,” Will said to his daughter, gesturing to Nico beside him, “this is Mr. di Angelo, and he might be taking care of you when I’m at work from now on.”

Bianca frowned up at Nico. “Mr. Dagino-- I can’t say that.”

Nico crouched down in front of her and held out a hand, which Bianca took and started to shake. “Bianca? That’s a very pretty name. You can call me Nico.”

Bianca nodded and smiled. “I’m gonna call you Nico.”

Nico smiled back and stood up once more. He turned to Will and said, “When do you want me to start?”

 

* * *

 

Will’s first day of work happened to be on Bianca’s second day of school, so he’d been able to take her to school and pick her up afterwards, and even got to drop her off again the next morning. 

His first day had started off just fine - his attendings and fellow residents seemed like great people so far, and the hospital wasn’t nearly as twisty and confusing as the last hospital he’d worked at. Best of all was that his superiors were understanding of him having a daughter to take care of, so he’d been allowed to take an hour out of his afternoon to pick Bianca up from school and get her and Nico situated at home before he went back to work.

Which, speaking of: Will had yet to actually call Nico and ask him to come over. He wasn’t allowed to have his phone on him at work, except for during his lunch break, so that’s when Will called Nico. 

“Hello?” came a sleepy, groggy voice through the phone.

There was something about Nico’s voice that made Will’s stomach tie itself in knots, but he tried not to think about it. “Hey, Nico. Sorry, uh, did I wake you up? You know it’s noon, right?”

“Uh-huh,” Nico replied. “What’s up, Solace?”

“Are you able to watch Bianca today?” Will asked. “Just for a few hours this afternoon, starting at four.”

“Yeah, sure,” Nico said. “I’ll be at your place by four.”

“Great! Thank you so much, Nico!”

 

Will clocked out to pick Bianca up from school and took her home. He got her settled at the kitchen table with her homework and some apple slices while they waited for Nico to arrive. Soon enough there was a knock on the door, and Will called for Nico to come inside.

“Hey, Solace,” Nico said as he walked inside, and continued, “Hi, Bianca,” when he saw her at the table. 

“Hi, Nico,” Will replied, and Bianca did the same.

Nico kicked his shoes off by the door before he walked into the kitchen, and watched as Will taped something up on one of the cabinets. As he looked around, Nico noticed that the kitchen had been entire cleared out of boxes, and it appeared that the Solaces had finally, officially moved in, but a quick glance down the hall said otherwise, as there were a few more boxes scattered here and there.

“I’ve gotta run back to work,” Will started, drawing Nico’s attention back into the kitchen, “but I want to show you this, first.” He pointed to the things he’d taped up on the cabinets, explaining to Nico what each of them were. “Here’s a list of all of Bi’s allergies, and here’s a list of emergency contacts, and this is a list of some easy recipes that are safe for Bi to eat, but, you know, make whatever you want as long as it’s safe for Bi.”

Nico stepped around the island to inspect the lists, and frowned as he read them over. “You put your cell number on here? You know I have it in my phone, right? And...are those the directions for making Kraft macaroni? Aren’t the directions on the box?”

When Nico spun around, he saw Will pouting, his ears glowing bright red. “I was...trying to be helpful.”

Nico raised an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth quirking up in the tiniest of smiles, and he saw the redness spread to Will’s cheeks. 

“Anyway!” Will said, a little too loud, and turned to leave the kitchen. “I have to get back to work, so call the hospital if you need anything. I should be home after seven, so I’ll need you to make dinner.” Will walked around the island to the table where Bianca was sitting, and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Bye, Bi, I love you.”

“Bye, Daddy, love you!” Bianca replied, and went back to her homework.

He turned back to Nico as he picked up his phone and wallet and keys off the counter near the door. “Alright, now I really have to leave, so I hope you don’t need anything else.”

“I think I’m good,” Nico told him. “See you later, Solace.”

Will started toward the door, but hesitated and said, “You know you can call me Will, right?”

Nico shrugged. “Yeah, I  _ could.” _

Will pouted again and walked out the door.

Nico allowed himself to smile after Will was gone, but when he remembered Bianca sitting at the table, he paused. What... _ exactly _ was he supposed to do? Did he just leave her until she was done? Wait until she asked for dinner? He had his own work that he could be doing, should he-- 

“Nico?” Bianca asked. “Can you help me?”

“Yeah, of course,” Nico replied, and sat down next to her at the table, setting his backpack on the ground beside him. 

Nico helped Bianca through about six more problems before he realized that it wasn’t that she couldn’t figure out the answers, but that she wasn’t focused enough to continue. He thought he might have remembered Will saying something about ADD, or maybe ADHD, so Nico decided that it was time they take a break. 

“Can we play outside?” Bianca asked. “Can we play pretend? Can I be a  _ princess?” _

Nico smiled. “You can be whatever you want to be. Let’s go outside, but only for a little while, and then we can come back and finish your homework, okay?”

“And then dinner!” Bianca exclaimed. “And then Daddy will be home!”

“That’s right,” Nico said, and they stood from the table.

The backyard was bare, which meant that they had to use their imaginations in order to actually entertain themselves, but Bianca seemed perfectly happy with that. Nico allowed her to lead their game of pretend, letting her be a magical princess that ruled over all the land, and she dubbed Nico  _ the ghost king _ for reasons that she never really explained.

Once the sun had started to drift lower in the sky, Nico insisted that they head back inside so that Bianca could finish her homework while Nico started cooking something for dinner. She seemed much more focused when she sat down, and was able to finish most of the problems on her own. Nico ended up making macaroni and cheese for dinner, since the cabinets were mostly empty - he would have to talk to Will about buying some  _ real _ food that Nico could cook with, sometime.

Once homework was done and dinner was eaten, Nico and Bianca moved to the living room to pick up on their game of pretend, only now it seemed that the nice magical princess had turned evil and was shooting magic spells at Nico to knock him over - or maybe Nico had been the evil one all along. He still wasn’t quite clear on what was happening.

Nico was on his back on the floor, pretending to be hurt by every “spell” Bianca threw at him, when Will walked through the door. He came into the living room to see what all the noise was about, and found Bianca standing on the couch, waving a toy wand in Nico’s direction. 

Will sneaked up behind her and lifted her off the couch, crying, “I’ve got you! Run, Nico, save yourself!” Bianca squealed, kicking her legs and trying to escape as Will pressed kisses all over her face.

“Daddy, no!” Bianca shrieked. “I gotta stop the Ghost King, he’s getting away! Put me down!”

“Never!” Will told her, and started to laugh evilly. 

Bianca shoved at Will’s face until he let her go, and she ran to find Nico, who had disappeared from where he’d been laying on the ground. She found him in the kitchen, packing up his backpack and getting ready to leave. “Ghost King, save me from the Tickle Monster!” She hid behind his legs as Will appeared in the doorway.

“No Tickle Monster tonight, Bi,” Will said. “Nico has to go home, and you have to go to bed.”

“No, I don’t want Nico to leave!” Bianca said, wrapping her arms around Nico.

Nico set a hand on her head and ruffled her hair. “I’ll see you again soon, Princess.”

Bianca pouted and let go. “Okay. Bye, Ghost King.”

As Bianca left to go brush her teeth, Will turned to Nico and said, “Thanks, Nico. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”

Nico nodded and grabbed his backpack. “See you later, Solace.”

 

* * *

 

As the first week continued on, Nico was spending more and more time at the Solace household as Will settled into his job and the hours he worked were growing longer. Will quickly found that coming home to see Nico and Bianca together - whether they were eating dinner or finishing homework or anything else - was his favorite part of the day, though he would never admit that having to see Nico leave every night was...disappointing, to say the least. He wanted any reason to keep Nico around for a few extra minutes, to talk to him about something that wasn’t Bianca, but he wasn’t sure how to. Why would Nico want to sit and talk with Will anyway? He was just the babysitter, after all - Will was  _ paying  _ him to be there.

Will thought about what he could say to Nico every day during his lunch break - it was the only time he really had to sit and think during the day. He would call Nico during his break to ask him to come over, too, because he was almost afraid that Nico would sleep the day away if he didn’t. Every day when Will called, Nico would answer sounding like he’d just woken up, and hearing the low rumble of his sleepy voice would have Will distracted for the next hour at least.

Will had called Nico one day at the end of that first week, waking him up as always and asking him to watch Bianca, though he also requested that Nico pick Bianca up from school that day.

“I’ve already called her school,” Will had explained, “so they’ll be fine with you picking her up. And I had a key made for you, it’s under the mat, so now you can just let yourself in whenever you come over. I’ll be home sometime after dinner, like always.”

Nico had been silent for most of the call, nodding along even though he knew Will couldn’t see him, and confirmed that he’d been listening by repeating back what Will had asked him to do. Nico said goodbye, ended the call, and got up to take a shower.

He managed to get a little bit of work done for one of his classes before it was time to pick Bianca up. Nico drove her home, using the key under the mat to let them into the house, and helped her with her homework while he struggled to add the new key to his keyring.

Just ask Nico was starting to cook dinner, Will called him, sounding stressed out and frazzled as he blurted out, “I’m so sorry, Nico, I won’t be home for, like, eight more hours at least - they’re making me pick up another shift. I need you to spend the night tonight, and I was really hoping that I’d have the guest room finished before this happened, but I don’t really have any choice but to stay here and--”

“Hey, Solace,” Nico cut in. “It’s fine. I figured it would happen sooner or later, so don’t worry about it. Get back to...fixing people, or whatever.”

“Thank you  _ so much, _ Nico,” Will told him, and hung up on him. 

Nico waited until after dinner to tell Bianca that Will would be later than usual, and at first she seemed to take it well. They finished her homework and then moved to the living room to play Mario Kart for a little while until it was time for Bianca to go to bed.  _ That _ was when it apparently hit her that Will wasn’t going to be home.

“But Daddy’s  _ always _ home to kiss me goodnight!” Bianca wailed from her bed.

“I know, Princess, but he has to stay at work for a little while longer,” Nico said, sitting on the edge of Bianca’s bed.

“But I want him  _ here!” _

Nico scrambled to think of something that would get Bianca to calm down, finally blurting out, “I’ll tell you a bedtime story!”

Bianca sniffled. “A story? Do you tell good stories?”

“I tell the  _ best _ stories,” Nico promised. He tried to buy for time by waiting until Bianca was settled into her bed, and Nico tucked her in before he asked, “Did you know that I have a sister?” Bianca shook her head. “Well, really I have two sisters, but at the time I only knew about one of them - my older sister. Can you guess what her name was?”

Bianca seemed to think about it for a second before she said, “Lilly?”

“Nope,” Nico said, and tapped Bianca on the tip of her nose when he continued, “Bianca. You two have the same name, and you look a lot like her, too. Now, before I tell you this story, you have to promise me that you won’t tell anyone, okay? It’s a secret story.”

“I promise,” Bianca told him, and she wiggled an arm out from under her blanket, holding a pinky out to Nico. He hooked his pinky with hers and forged the promise. “Is this story about Bianca?”

“It is,” Nico answered, and jumped into the tale. “When I was fifteen, I watched Bianca do magic.” Bianca’s eyes grew wide. “She had this hunting bow that she said she found in the woods on the night of the full moon. She said that she could pull the string and an arrow of moonlight would appear right as she let the string go, and the arrow could go right through a tree. Bianca took me into the woods with her during the next full moon to show me, but her magic wasn’t working right. She said that it must not work when boys are around. I thought she was just trying to be mean, so I huffed and I turned around to walk back out of the woods. I took a few steps, and then I heard an arrow fly right past my ear and I saw it get stuck in a tree in front of me. It looked like it was made of pure silver so I ran over to get a closer look at it, but when I tried to grab the arrow, it melted away back into the moonlight.

“Girls get all the cool stuff, do you know that, Princess?” Nico asked. “I told Bianca that that wasn’t fair, that she got cool magic like that bow and arrow. I said that it was too cold to be outside anyway, so I started to leave the woods again, because I was a very grumpy teenager. I only looked back at her once. She was still happily shooting off the magic arrows, but it looked to me like she was melting away into the moonlight like the arrows did.

“When I got back to my house, I got myself nice and warm. I wrapped up in a bunch of blankets and made myself some hot chocolate, and looked back outside towards the woods. I didn’t see Bianca yet, but when I looked up at the moon - you know how you can see the man in the moon?”

Bianca nodded.

“Well instead of his face, I saw Bianca’s, just for a second, and then it was gone.”

“The moon ate your sister?” Bianca gasped, disbelieving.

Nico smiled. “No, the moon didn’t eat her. He gave her that magic as a gift, and Bianca was so grateful and appreciated it so much that the moon let her live with him and all the stars.”

“I want magic moon powers,” Bianca whispered. “Will the moon give me magic?”

“I don’t know,” Nico said. “Bianca never told me how she got the moon to give them to her, and I don’t think he’s given away any powers since then, so you would have to be  _ very _ lucky.”

“How long ago was it?”

Nico tipped his head back as he thought about it. “Well, I’m twenty-two now--”

“Wow, that’s old!”

“Hey, I’m not old!” Nico said with a laugh. “What’s twenty-two minus fifteen?”

Bianca frowned up at him. “Seven?” 

“That’s right,” Nico replied. “So Bianca will have lived with the moon for seven years on December nineteenth.”

“That’s a long time,” Bianca said around a yawn. “Maybe I can make the moon do a trade. I wanna live on the moon and have magic powers.”

“Well, I miss my sister, so it  _ would _ be nice to see her again, but if you go to live on the moon, then I’ll miss  _ you _ instead.”

Bianca pouted. “Yeah, I’ll miss you, too. I’ll think about it, maybe I won’t go live on the moon.”

“Alright, you think about it, and go to sleep while you’re at it,” Nico told her. “Goodnight, Princess.”

“G’night, Ghost King,” Bianca replied.

Nico rose from the bed and turned off the light when he left, shutting the door softly behind him. He stepped out into the living room and hesitated, suddenly feeling uncomfortable in this home that wasn’t his own. He’d never been left alone in the Solace household before.

He walked down to the closet at the end of the hall where Will had told him once that the extra pillows and blankets were kept - without a guest room, it looked like Nico would be sleeping on the couch. Nico took the pillow and blanket to the couch, then retrieved his backpack from the kitchen. He was glad he thought to pack his laptop and glasses in case he’d somehow found the time to work, but he hadn’t considered bringing any extra clothes. As he got comfortable on the couch - the pillow propped up against the arm he was leaning against, and the blanket still folded at his feet, his laptop in his lap and his glasses resting on his nose - Nico got to work on a paper for class.

 

Will had no idea how late it was when he finally returned home. It was sometime around the middle of the night, that was as far as he could tell, and he was dead tired. He almost felt too tired to make it to his own bed, briefly considering collapsing on the couch and sleeping there, but then noticed that the spot was already taken. 

Nico had fallen asleep with his laptop resting on his thighs and his cheek smooshed against the back of the couch. Will spotted a pair of thick-framed black glasses resting askew on his face, and saw that his lips were slightly parted as he snored almost silently.

Will felt his heart swell. Nico looked  _ adorable. _

Carefully, Will lifted the laptop from underneath Nico’s fingers where they still laid on the keys, setting it aside before he unfolded the blanket and draped it over Nico’s sleeping figure. 

Some part of Will wanted to stay and watch Nico sleep, to brush his fingers through Nico’s hair and press a kiss to his forehead, but the rest of Will knew how creepy that would be. So he took a step back and went to his own room, his own bed, all by himself.

Will closed his eyes and fell asleep, and in what felt like no time at all, his alarm went off to get Bianca ready for school. He groaned and rolled out of bed.

He managed to get Bianca up and out the door without disturbing Nico’s rest - which was harder than it sounded, since Bianca had been so excited at seeing that Nico was still there that morning - and Nico was still asleep after Will had returned.

Will turned on the coffee pot for the second time that morning, feeling like he was going to fall asleep while leaning against the counter, and the sound of the machine finishing woke him up enough to grab the mug he’d used earlier that morning from the sink.

After he’d poured the coffee for himself, he heard footsteps entering the kitchen. Will turned to see Nico walking toward him, his hair sticking up in every direction and one of his hands rubbing at one eye underneath his glasses, somehow managing to look even more adorable than when Will last saw him.

“Good morning,” Will greeted. “Want some coffee? I just made it.”

Nico nodded, shuffling across the kitchen as Will pulled a mug from the cabinet and poured for him. “Thanks,” Nico told him, voice gravelly and low - just like it always sounded over the phone - as he took the mug from Will and drank from it.

“So, I took Bi to school already,” Will said, looking for some way to start a conversation. “She was pretty excited to see that you were still here when she woke up.”

Nico cradled the mug close to his face. “Maybe I should stay over more often,” he said before taking a sip. He seemed to process what he’d said as he was drinking because Will saw his ears grow red as his eyes flickered away. 

Will smiled, relaxing back against the island. “You know, I didn’t understand why Bi’s been calling you  _ the Ghost King _ all the time, but you’re practically the walking dead right now, so I guess it makes sense.”

Nico rolled his eyes. “Yeah, and you’re just a big ball of sunshine all the time, aren’t you? Maybe I should call you  _ Sunshine  _ from now on.” Again, it seemed to take Nico a moment to realize what he’d said, and he tried to hide his embarrassment by downing the rest of his coffee. “Um, anyway. I should, uh, probably head home. Thanks for the coffee.”

Nico set his mug in the sink before he went to the living room to pack up his backpack. Will was disappointed to see that he’d taken his glasses off when he walked back into the kitchen, and said, “See you later...Sunshine.”

 

Will did his best to stay awake until it came time to pick Bianca up from school. He was thankful for the day off after working so many consecutive hours, but he could only rest and relax for so long until he’d gotten bored. He’d had the time to wash the dishes that had been piling up, unpack the last few boxes that he’d been ignoring, and even swung by the grocery store before finally being able to go to Bianca’s school. 

On the drive home, Will asked about Bianca’s day, and about what she and Nico had done the night before.

“Nico told me a bedtime story,” Bianca said enthusiastically. “It’s about his sister, and her name is  _ also _ Bianca, and she has magic powers! She lives on the moon, because the moon gave her the magic powers, and Nico says that the moon might give  _ me _ magic powers, and maybe  _ I _ can--”

Will glanced at her in the rearview mirror with a frown when his daughter suddenly froze. “Bi? You alright?”

“I wasn’t supposed to tell anybody!” Bianca exclaimed. “Nico said it was a  _ secret story, _ and secret means I can’t tell anybody! Daddy, what do I do?”

“I’m sure it’s okay, Bi. As long as you don’t tell anybody else.”

 

* * *

 

Will should have known that he wouldn’t get a chance to catch up on sleep. He was woken up by a loud chirping, sometime in the middle of the night, and it didn’t stop when he slammed his hand down on his alarm clock. He checked his phone - the time said it was 2:36 - but there was nothing to indicate that it had been making any noise. And the chirping was still happening, besides.

He picked up his pager from where he’d left it on his nightstand, and read the screen.  _ Incoming Trauma. _

Will groaned and jumped out of bed, grabbing his phone and calling Nico as he striped out of his pajamas.

“Hey, Solace,” Nico answered, sounding perfectly awake, and Will tripped as he tried to step out of his pajama pants. His phone flew out of his hand, and from across the room he heard, “Solace? Are you okay?”

Will crawled over to pick up his phone, whispering, “Sorry, sorry!” as he went, and moved toward his dresser once he’d picked up the phone. “I dropped my phone, sorry, are you-- Are you actually awake right now?”

He thought he heard Nico laugh, but he couldn’t be sure in his tired state. “Yeah, I am. Are you?”

“I, uh, I don’t think so,” Will replied, pulling a set of scrubs from the drawers, and then his pager chirped again, and he remembered why he had called Nico in the first place. “Can you come over? Right now? I need you.” He propped the phone between his ear and his shoulder so that he could tug on his scrub pants. 

“Uh, what’s happening right now?”

“Nico,  _ please!” _ Will said, whinier than he’d intended to sound, but he had more important things to worry about. “I have to get to work, can you  _ please _ just get over here?”

_ “Oh! _ Right, of course that’s what you meant. Yeah, I’ll be there in, like, fifteen minutes.”

“Thank you, Nico!” Will said, and hung up before pulling his shirt on over his head.

He’d finished getting ready to leave and had just poured himself a cup of coffee when Nico entered the house, using the key he’d been given just days earlier.

“Nico!” Will exclaimed, gathering his travel mug of coffee and his car keys. “Thank you so much for coming on such short notice. I’ve gotta run, I’ll text you when I’m on my way home.” 

He ran out the door, barely hearing as Nico called after him, “Bye, Sunshine.”

Will arrived at the hospital in about half an hour, rushing into the ER just as a woman was wheeled in on a gurney, surrounded by doctors and paramedics. Will jumped into the fray, piecing together what had happened by listening to the fragments of conversation happening around him - drunk driver, three cars hit, at least six injured.

As the gurney was pushed into a trauma room, Will leaned in to get the woman’s attention. “My name is Doctor Solace, can you tell me your name?”

Through her hysterical crying, the woman replied, “Lou Ellen Blackstone.”

“Lou Ellen,” Will repeated, “we’re going to do everything we can to help you.”

It was determined that Lou Ellen’s leg was broken in four different places and that she had a concussion, and she most likely had internal bleeding. Will was part of the team that performed the first of many surgeries that she would need to have done on her leg, and was volunteered by his attending to do all of the post-operation checks. 

He was there when Lou Ellen woke up, sometime around when Will would have been eating lunch on a normal day, and he informed her of the suggested recovery plan that was made for her. 

“Are you going to be the doctor on my case the whole time?” Lou Ellen asked.

“One of them, yeah,” Will answered. “If you need anything, you can have someone page me, but for now, I think the both of us could use some rest. I’ll be back to check on you tomorrow.”

He got himself a cup of coffee so that he wouldn’t fall asleep as he finished up the work he had to do that day - updating patient charts and logging a few hours in the emergency room before he was finally able to leave

Will drove home in a daze, seeing Nico’s car parked in his driveway when he arrived, and he found Nico and Bianca in the kitchen when he walked inside. 

“Daddy!” Bianca exclaimed at the sight of her father.

“Hi, Bi,” Will greeted, and walked over to kiss the top of Bianca’s head. He turned to Nico to say, “Sorry I’ve been gone so long, you can head home if you want to.”

Nico raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms as he leaned back against the island. “Uh, no, I think I should stay here so you can get some rest.”

“No, you don’t have to, I’m fine,” Will argued, but then yawned and ruined the point he was trying to make.

“I think I do. Go take a nap, I’ll wake you up when dinner’s ready.”

Will still wanted to argue, but instead he nodded and turned toward the hallway and said, “Thank you, Nico.”

 

* * *

 

When Nico walked into the Solace household two days later, neither residents were in the kitchen where he expected them to be. 

“Uh, hello?” he called down the hall toward their bedrooms. “Anybody home?”

Will poked his head out of the bathroom, toothbrush in his mouth. “Hi! Can you turn the coffee pot on for me? I’m running late.”

“Yeah, sure,” Nico replied, and turned around to hit the switch on the coffee maker. Behind him, he heard doors opening and closing, and Bianca ran into the kitchen to hug him in greeting. “Hey, Princess, what kind of cereal do you want for breakfast?”

“Can I have Lucky Charms?” she asked, and when Nico nodded, she made her way to the table, setting her backpack in one chair and sitting in another. 

Nico took a bowl from one of the cabinets and a spoon from one of the drawers before collecting the cereal from the pantry. “Do you want milk in the bowl or in a cup?”

“In the bowl,” Bianca answered, and Nico took the milk out of the fridge, pouring it over the cereal he’d already shaken into the bowl. 

He noticed Will standing at the edge of the kitchen with his phone in his hand as Nico went to put away the milk. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing!” Will said quickly, stuffing his phone back into his pocket. He made his way over to the coffee pot, pouring its contents into a travel mug, as Nico delivered the bowl of cereal to Bianca. 

Once Will had his coffee made - with plenty of cream and a little bit of sugar - he went over to Bianca and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’ll see you after school, Bi,” he said. “I love you.”

“Love you, Daddy!” Bianca replied, and went back to her cereal. 

“Bye, Nico,” Will said, grabbing his keys as he started toward the door.

“Bye, Solace,” Nico said, and once Will was gone, he asked Bianca, “Do you have everything you need for school?” She nodded. “All of your homework is done, and you have a jacket to wear?” She nodded again. “Alright. Ten minutes, and we have to leave, got it?”

“Can I go in late?” Bianca asked.

“Why?” 

“Daddy gets to be late, so why can’t I?”

“Your dad is probably going to get in trouble if he’s late too much, just like you would be,” Nico told her. “So eat your cereal so that we can leave and you won’t be late.”

 

Will was going to be late, but he had something more important to deal with right at that moment, in his opinion. He’d started spending his lunch hour with Lou Ellen, and she had been pestering him for a picture of Nico, ever since Will had started mentioning the fact that there was a hot twenty-something at his house watching over his daughter. So, in a childish move, Will had secretly snapped a picture of Nico that morning while he was making up a bowl of cereal for Bianca. 

However, since Will couldn’t have his phone on him while he was working, he had to go into one of the empty offices to hook his phone up to the printer. While he was waiting for the picture to print, he kept glancing around, afraid to get caught using hospital equipment for something as childish as this. As soon as the picture was printed, Will snatched it off the paper tray and ran to Lou Ellen’s room.

She had clearly just woken up, though she seemed to brighten when she saw Will in her doorway. “That’s a face that looks like it has gossip to spread,” Lou commented, waving Will into the room. “Whatcha got?”

Will held out the picture. 

“Who’s this?” Lou asked, though the look on Will’s face told her everything she needed to know.  _ “Oh!  _ This is  _ him,  _ isn’t it?  _ This _ is your boy? What’s his name again, Nicky? He’s cute, Will, you should  _ totally _ hit that.”

“Lou!” Will scolded, wondering why he would continue to bring this kind of torture upon himself and when exactly Lou had gotten so comfortable picking on him. “No! His name is  _ Nico, _ first of all, and  _ no,  _ I should  _ not _ hit that, because I’m technically his boss, or something!”

Lou rolled her eyes. “Did he sign some agreement about no workplace relationships? Ask him out, I bet he’d be into it. Maybe he could even _be_ _into_ you,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows.

_ “Lou!” _

“Sorry, you’d _be_ _into_ him--”

“Lou Ellen, please!”

“Fine, fine! I’ll stop,” Lou said with a sigh. “You’ve got work to do anyway, don’t you? Get out of here already.”

Will snatched the picture of Nico out of her hands before she could hide it from him, and said, “I’ll see you for lunch,” before he left the room.

 

The first thing that Nico always did as soon as he picked Bianca up from school was to ask how her day had been. The  _ second _ thing he did was ask if she had any homework, because if she didn’t, that meant that he had to think of something to occupy her time before the short car ride home ended. When Bianca told him that she was homework-free for the night, Nico decided that it was a good day to make cupcakes, and so they drove to the store for ingredients instead of heading straight home.

They set to work as soon as they got home, washing their hands before pulling out mixing bowls and measuring out ingredients. Bianca had to stand on a stool to be able to reach everything on the counter.

When it came time to mix everything together with the electric mixer, Bianca asked if she could do it, so Nico gave her quick instruction - hold the mixer in the batter, turn it onto the lowest setting, move it around until everything is blended - before handing it over to her. Bianca took the mixer eagerly, following Nico’s directions until her finger slipped on the switch, turning the mixer on to full blast and throwing batter all over the island and their clothes. 

Nico hurried to switch the mixer off before the mess grew, quick to laugh it off before Bianca got upset, and turned the mixer back on to low before returning it to her. 

Once the remaining batter was mixed and poured into the cupcake pan and the pan placed in the oven, Nico turned to Bianca and said, “How about you go and put on some pajamas, and bring me these clothes so I can wash them. Sound good?”

Bianca nodded and ran off to her room, coming back a few minutes later in clean pajamas with a bundle of dirty clothes just as Nico had finished wiping down the counter.

“Thanks, Princess,” Nico said, taking the clothes from her. “You can go ahead and watch some TV or something while we wait for the cupcakes, okay?”

“Okay!” Bianca said happily, and turned toward the living room. 

Nico took the dirty clothes into the laundry room, starting the washer and setting Bianca’s clothes aside so that he could go and change himself. He searched through his backpack for the spare clothes he had started keeping in there, but couldn’t seem to find them. He didn’t remember leaving any of his clothes behind there before, either, which meant he only had one option if he wanted to get out of his dirty t-shirt and jeans - which he really did, since he didn’t want to risk ruining his favorite shirt and one of his only good pairs of pants. 

He walked down the hall to Will’s room, opening the door slowly like he didn’t want to get caught sneaking inside, and he realized suddenly that this was the first time he’d stepped inside Will’s room. He walked over to the dresser and opened one of the middle drawers which happened to hold Will’s t-shirts. Nico grabbed one at random before going into the next drawer down and taking out a pair of sweatpants. 

With a quick glance at the door to make sure it was closed, Nico changed out of his own clothes and into Will’s - he had to roll the sweatpants at the waist so that they wouldn’t slip off his hips and fold up the cuffs around his ankles. There was no way that Will was  _ that much _ taller than him, right?

He hurried out of the room and threw his clothes in the wash with Bianca’s before going back into the kitchen to check on the cupcakes. 

The cupcakes were cooled and frosted by the time the washer finished its cycle. Nico went to move the clothes into the dryer, eager to get back into his own clothes before Will came home and saw him in his. He had no trouble moving Bianca’s clothes and his own jeans into the dryer, but his t-shirt seemed to get caught on something inside the machine, ripping more and more no matter how carefully Nico tried to remove it.

His shirt - his  _ favorite _ shirt - was in shreds in his hands. He slammed the dryer door shut, angrily tossed his ruined shirt in the trash, and dropped back onto the couch next to Bianca, grumpily watching whatever cartoon was on the TV. 

Eventually, they moved on from TV to video games, and Nico lost track of time - he didn’t hear when the dryer finished, and didn’t register the sound of the door opening until he heard Will’s voice. The panic he felt at Will seeing him in the borrowed clothes was overshadowed by the loss of his shirt, so his heart only skipped a single beat instead of stopping completely when Will stepped into the living room. 

“Hey, those cupcakes look great!” Will said as a greeting, and Nico noticed his smile flicker when he took in Nico’s attire. “What’s up with the PJs before dinner? And...are those my clothes?”

Nico cleared his throat awkwardly before answering, “There was a mishap with the cupcake batter, so I had to wash our clothes, but… I, uh, I didn’t bring anything else, so I had to borrow this.” He glanced down at the shirt he was wearing before looking back at Will. “Actually, I think I’m keeping this shirt. Your washer tore mine to shreds, so you owe me. Kind of.”

He thought he saw Will’s cheeks redden slightly. “Oh. Um, yeah, that’s fine, don’t worry about it.” He turned and started walking toward his bedroom. “It looks better on you, anyway.”

Nico got up to check the laundry, figuring that since Will was home there was no reason for him to stay much longer, and found that drier had finished. He took everything out, quickly folding Bianca’s clothes and the couple of towels he’d used to clean up the spilled batter, then took his jeans with him to the bathroom to change. 

When he came back out, he saw that Will had changed into his pajamas and claimed Nico’s seat on the couch. They were talking about something that Nico wasn’t really paying attention to - instead trying to figure out how to return Will’s sweatpants to him as unawkwardly as possible - when suddenly Bianca burst into tears. Will seemed frozen by the guilt of making his daughter cry, so Nico dropped the sweatpants on the coffee table and scooped Bianca up in his arms.

“What’s the matter, Princess?” Nico asked, wiping the tears from her cheeks with his thumb.

“Daddy can’t come to career day at school!” Bianca wailed. “Everybody else is gonna have a parent there except for me!”

“What if  _ I _ go to career day with you?” Nico offered, then glanced at Will with a questioning look. “If...that’s okay?”

“Yes, of course!” Will said. “Please.”

Bianca sniffled, but it was clear she was starting to calm down. “But… It’s for parents, and you’re not my dad.”

“No, but I’m cooler than you dad,” Nico said, and grinned toward Will when Bianca started to laugh. “So it’s settled, then. I’ll come to career day with you.”

“But Mrs. Johnson said that  _ career _ means  _ job,” _ Bianca continued. “If you’re here all day, how can you have a job?”

“Being here is my job,” Nico replied, moving to set Bianca down on the couch. He knelt down in front of her and set his hands on her shoulders. “And it’s the  _ best _ job I’ve ever had. Well, I’m also in school still. I take classes on the computer, so that’s almost like another job.”

“You’ll really come with me?” Bianca asked one last time.

“Of course I will,” Nico promised, “and we’re gonna have  _ best _ time.”

 

Career day happened just a few days later, and Will couldn’t help but think that if Bianca had given him just a  _ couple _ more days notice, it would be him going to school with her instead of Nico. Of course, then Nico wouldn’t have spent the night on the couch the night before to make sure that he wasn’t late to take Bianca to school that morning. Will wouldn’t have woken up to find Nico still asleep, wouldn’t have been able to wake him up with a fresh cup of coffee, wouldn’t have gotten a delicious homemade breakfast cooked for him - Will had never been around to watch Nico cook, but he was in awe at the way Nico moved through the space, almost like he was dancing. 

Will could have watched him for hours if he hadn’t had to wake Bianca. 

He hated to break the peace of the kitchen by talking, especially when Nico looked so serene, but some things just had to be done. By asking Nico to pick up groceries, of all things - to which Nico responded, “Oh, thank god, I thought you’d never ask.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Will replied.

Nico turned to him with a bored look on his face. “No offense, Solace, but you have no idea how to buy groceries. Just text me a list of what you want, and I’ll fill in the gaps.”

After that, Will only had the time to scarf down a single pancake before he had to run to work, saying quick goodbyes and making Nico promise that he would let Will know if there was some kind of problem.

It was because of that promise that he was so alarmed when his phone dinged in his pocket just before he started his morning rounds. Waiting for him was a text from Nico.

_ FROM: Nico; i changed my mind this is weird _

Will frowned down at his phone, checking the time. Bianca’s class hadn’t even started yet, what could have gone wrong so soon?

_ TO: Nico; What do you mean, you changed your mind? You can’t change your mind! You should be there already! You PROMISED! _

He didn’t consider how panicky his text sounded until it was already sent, but Nico hadn’t exactly given him much information to go off of.  _ What _ was weird? Had they even made it to school yet? Were they trying to tell Nico that he couldn’t participate because he wasn’t Bianca’s parent? 

Will’s phone buzzed in his hand, a few times in a row, snapping him out of his daze.

_ FROM: Nico; everyone here is either fifteen years younger than me or ten years older than me. _

_ FROM: Nico; theres a bunch of women in the corner who all have the same haircut and they keep looking at me and whispering _

_ FROM: Nico; its making me feel like im in high school again _

Will rolled his eyes, though he couldn’t keep the tiniest of smiles from appearing on his lips. 

_ TO: Nico; You’re scared of the wine moms? Just try talking to someone, what’s the worst that could happen? _

_ FROM: Nico; never ask me that, i have a very creative imagination _

_ FROM: Nico; a LOT of bad things could happen, i assure you _

_ FROM: Nico; example: there is only one other man in the room, and he looks to be a hardened criminal _

_ FROM: Nico; hes been standing next to the door since he got here and hes been glaring at anything that moves and im CERTAIN hes planning to kill us all _

Will couldn’t contain the snort of laughter that came after reading Nico’s texts.

_ TO: Nico; Maybe talk to somebody who isn’t some kind of escaped convict. If you hadn’t spent the last ten minutes texting me, then you probably couldn’t found someone else to talk to sooner. _

_ FROM: Nico; id much rather talk to you _

Will’s heart skipped a beat. He was sure that he was reading too much into the text - Nico  _ couldn’t _ mean it how Will  _ wished _ he did - but the phone buzzed in his hand once more before he could think of any kind of response.

_ FROM: Nico; class is starting, gotta go _

Will had to take a deep breath before he tucked his phone away in his locker and stood to leave. This middle school crush he had was going to be the death of him, and he desperately needed his lunch hour to roll around quickly so that he could get a another opinion on that second to last text. Surely, Lou Ellen would know what it meant.

 

Nico really hadn’t exaggerated how awkward he felt. As soon as they’d walked into the classroom, Bianca had ditched Nico in favor of her friends, and Nico had pulled out his phone, desperate for something to keep him busy until the bell rang - which was how he found himself texting Will. However, the awkwardness didn’t stop with the ringing of the bell, nor with the pledge of allegiance - Nico hoped that nobody around him could hear how badly he’d messed it up, but he’d been out of the practice of saying it for a good few years now so at least he had that as an excuse - nor with the teacher calling for a start to the “festivities” of the day, beginning at the top of the alphabet. 

(Nico had to remind himself that he was a Solace for the day, so he wouldn’t be presenting near the beginning of the lineup, like he usually would as a di Angelo. He was a Solace, he kept repeating to himself.  _ Nico Solace, _ he caught himself thinking, and almost reached up to smack the thought out of his head. What was this, middle school? Was he about to start writing his and Will’s names in hearts in his notebook?  _ Snap out of it.) _

At least at some point, Nico couldn’t even remember feeling awkward, because he just felt  _ bored. _ He paid attention to the first few parents for long enough that he could get the gist of how his “presentation” should go - he remembered one of the “wine moms” as Will had called them who claimed to be a “room mom,” whatever that was; there was a chef who had brought a few treat samples, but the teacher had shut her down before she could hand anything out, reminding everyone that a few kids in the class had food allergies; and Nico made sure to pay close attention to whatever the escaped criminal had claimed as his job, so that he could fill Will in on it later.

He zoned out for about the next fifteen parents before he heard someone with the last name  _ Smith, _ and figured that was close enough to  _ Solace _ that he should pay attention some more. Nico felt like his feet had fallen asleep with how long he’d been standing still, leaning against the wall in the back of the room, and had braced himself to head to the front of the room when the teacher started speaking again.

“Unfortunately, that’s all the time we have today,” she - what did Bianca say her name was? Mrs. Johnson? - said. “I know that most of you have jobs that you need to get back to today, and the children need to get back to their school work, but we are so grateful to all of you for coming to share with us today. If any of you have the time, please feel free to stay for lunch!”

Some of the parents started to head out, others mingling to talk with each other or with their children, and Nico exhaled a deep breath, relaxing now that he didn’t have to worry about speaking in front of the group anymore. He was about to walk over to Bianca to say goodbye when she ran up to him instead.

“Nico, will you stay for lunch?” she asked. “We’re having a pizza party!”

Realistically, Nico probably should have gotten a head start on the list of things he had to do that day - a few papers for class and the grocery shopping Will had asked him to do sitting at the top of the list - but he could spare a few minutes for lunch, right? “Sure, Princess,” he said, and thought  _ how much more awkward could it be? _

After a few minutes, a pizza buffet was set up along one wall, and Nico and Bianca went to get their food before heading back to Bianca’s desk to eat. She introduced Nico to all of her friends as The Ghost King, and pointed out each of her friends to Nico with names that were obviously made up.

Bianca was deep into a story of something that had happened at recess yesterday when Nico felt a tap on his shoulder and heard somebody say, “Excuse me, Doctor Solace?”

Nico turned to face the woman - one of the “wine moms” with the matching haircut - and realized for the first time just how tiny the chair he was sitting in was when he noticed he was about eye-level with the woman’s stomach. He was about to say,  _ nope, wrong guy, _ when the woman continued, “Wow, it’s so great to finally meet you! You know, we’ve all heard  _ so much  _ about you, but I had  _ no idea _ that you’re so  _ young! _ And handsome, too!”

He must’ve looked like a fish with the way he kept opening and closing his mouth, trying to figure out something to say that wasn’t as rude as  _ you’re barking up the wrong tree, lady. _ Was he supposed to be...flattered?

The woman looked like she was getting irritated by his lack of response, and her tone had started to shift away from  _ overly-friendly _ . “Um. I’m Christine, Jessica’s mom?”

This time, Nico couldn’t help himself. “Am I supposed to know who Jessica is?”

Christine made an exasperated sound, and somebody started tugging on Nico’s sleeve.

“Nico?” Bianca said, obviously trying to regain his attention.

“Your daughter calls you by your first name?” Christine spat, clearly over her attempts at friendship - or flirting, or whatever that was supposed to be. “That must be what happens when a father is left alone to raise a girl with no motherly figure in the home--”

“Did you actually need anything, or did you just come over here to insult me?” Nico asked, hoping his voice wouldn’t travel across the room - Mrs. Johnson seemed like the kind of teacher who would have no problems with sending a parent to the principal’s office, and Nico did  _ not _ need that to happen ever again.

Christine scoffed. “Not anymore!” She spun on her heel and walked away as Nico rolled his eyes and turned his focus back to Bianca.

“What’s up, Princess?”

“Can you sign me out after lunch?” she asked. “Mary’s mom is letting her go home early, and so is Jacob’s.”

Nico frowned. “I’m sorry, Bi, but I don’t think the school will let me sign you out, since I’m not your dad. Besides, I have to go grocery shopping and then I have my own school work to do. You don’t wanna do boring adult stuff with me when you could be with your friends, right?”

Bianca sighed. “I guess not.”

“It’s just a few more hours, and then I’ll be back to pick you up at the end of the day,” Nico reminded her, just as Mrs. Johnson announced that lunchtime was over, meaning the students had to get back to work. “I’ll see you later, Princess.”

Nico cleaned up his and Bianca’s plates before he left the classroom, slipping his phone out of his pocket to send another text to Will.

 

Will had somehow gotten suckered into bringing Lou lunch every day, not that he really minded. At least he always had someone to talk to during his break, even if she did make fun of him almost relentlessly, specifically over his crush on a certain babysitter.

There must have been some look on his face that Lou took as an invitation to start messing with him, because before he’d even set her lunch down on the tray table next to her bed, Lou asked, “What happened? You look mopey, so you’d better spill. It’ll make you feel better, I promise.  _ Ooh, _ is it about your boy?”

Will plopped down into the chair next to her bed. “He’s not  _ my boy, _ and  _ no, _ it’s about Bianca. It’s career day at her school, and I didn’t get to go with her.”

Lou looked like she might try to sympathize before a wicked grin broke out across her lips. “Oh, no, it’s totally about your boy, isn’t it? He went to career day instead, and you’re  _ definitely _ jealous that he gets to be the cool dad today.”

“No,” Will said defensively. “I’m just... sad that I didn’t get to be there for her. And--” He sighed and stabbed at his salad repeatedly, but didn’t make any move to eat it.

_ “And?” _ Lou prompted.

“I dunno. Confused, maybe? Nico was acting kinda weird this morning.”

“What kind of weird? Touchy, flirty weird? Or grumpy, grossed-out-at-the-sight-of-you weird?”

“I don’t know,” Will emphasized the words with three more stabs at his salad. He straightened in his seat, setting the salad aside, and seemed to prepare himself to say something important. “Okay, so, he knows not to try to contact me at work unless it’s some kind of emergency, right? But then this morning he texted me because he felt uncomfortable in Bi’s classroom, I guess, and I thought he was trying to back out, so I told him he couldn’t, and then he… He said that he would  _ rather _ talk to me instead of anybody else. And I don’t know if that means what I  _ think _ it means, or if I’m reading too much into it, or--”

His phone buzzed in his pocket.

_ FROM: Nico; mr convict is a “construction worker” if you were wondering _

“It’s him,” Will said, feeling himself starting to smile. He read the text aloud, then tried to give context. 

“Sounds to me like he wants to keep talking to you,” Lou said around a mouthful of lettuce - she always complained when Will brought her salad, but never failed to eat every last bite, regardless. “And not just about your kid, either. Maybe…” she gasped, overdramatically, and continued, “Maybe he  _ likes you!” _

Will rolled his eyes. “I’m sure he doesn’t.” He hesitated, staring down at his phone with a furrowed brow. “What should I do?”

“Flirt with him a little bit,” Lou answered. “A little flirting never hurt anybody.”

“I don’t know how to flirt over text.”

“Why do I have the feeling that you don’t know how to flirt at all?”

_ TO: Nico; That does sound pretty suspicious _

_ FROM: Nico; dr solace are you texting on the clock? _

_ FROM: Nico; what would your patients think? _

_ FROM: Nico; i doubt they appreciate it very much _

_ TO: Nico; I’m on my lunch break, actually. And I’ll have you know that I AM texting right in front of a patient. _

_ TO: Nico; What are YOU doing texting during class? _

_ FROM: Nico; broke for lunch, now im going out to buy YOUR groceries _

_ FROM: Nico; btw now might be a good time to send me that shopping list _

_ TO: Nico; Oh shit. _

After Will texted Nico his grocery list and summarized the conversation, Lou whistled. “Wow, you really don’t know how to flirt, huh?”

Will groaned, burying his face in his hands. “This is hopeless, Lou. Actually, it’s probably for the best, because what if I start flirting with him and he  _ notices?” _

“That’s usually the goal with flirting, Will.”

“But what if I scare him off? What if I come on too strong?”

“I honestly don’t think you  _ could _ come off too strong.”

Will groaned again, this time louder and more drawn out.

“You know,” Lou started, sounding far too calm, cool, and collected to Will, who was experiencing an  _ actual crisis. _ “This whole time, I’ve been pretty sure that you had, like, some kind of middle school crush on this kid. But now? Now that I’ve seen you at your lowest point - which isn’t a good look on you, hon - I’ve gotta tell you this: you’re in love with him. Normally, I’d let people figure it out on their own, but you sound like you needed the help, and I figured the news would be easier to take coming from me instead of yourself.”

Will shook his head, face still hidden by his hands. “No, no, Lou, I can’t be in love with him! I’m his boss, right? Or...or his  _ employer, _ or whatever. There’s rules about workplace relationships! I can’t just hit on my employee and expect there not to be any repercussions! And if he feels the same about me - which is  _ impossible, _ probably - then he probably feels the same way! Nobody wants to hit on their boss, that’s  _ weird!” _

“Well, first of all, I don’t think that  _ babysitter _ is the equivalent of  _ employee,” _ Lou said. “And the worst that’s gonna happen is that if you ever actually try flirting with him, maybe he’ll catch on and let you down easy. If he likes the job, he’s not going to quit just because you have a crush on him, because that’s childish. Best case is that he keeps the job, flirts back, and maybe you get a boyfriend if it all works out. And, hey, speaking of jobs, don’t you have one of those?”

“Shit, you’re right,” Will said, jumping out of his seat, glancing down sadly at his uneaten salad. He didn’t have time for that now. “About the job thing, not any of the rest of it.”

Lou rolled her eyes. “Of course.”

Will started to leave, but paused in the doorway. He turned back toward her and said, desperately, “Lou, I don’t even know if he’s gay!”

“Get out of here!”

 

Nico was cooking when Will finally got home that evening, and Will didn’t think he’d ever smelled something so heavenly. He greeted Nico with a simple, “Hey, that smells great!” instead of something flirty like he should have, but he couldn’t muster up the courage. Thankfully, Bianca was there to interrupt before he could say something foolish.

“Daddy, you’re home!” Bianca announced, running up to Will for a hug.

“Hi, Bi!” Will replied. “How was career day? Did you have fun with Nico?”

“It was awesome! Did you know that Jacob’s mom is a chef? Nico got to meet all my friends, and we had pizza for lunch!”

“That’s all super cool,” Will told her.

“But then when we were eating pizza, Jessica’s mom came to talk to Nico and called him  _ Doctor Solace _ so that was kinda weird.” Will glanced up at Nico to see that he had focused all of his attention on the dinner he was making, though the back of his neck seemed to have grown awfully red. “She also called Nico really young and handsome, but then she got angry and left.”

Something inside Will spiked - he wouldn’t admit that it was most likely jealousy - and he didn’t manage to catch himself before he said, “Wait. Really young or really handsome?”

Nico snorted. “Getting really caught up on the important details, huh, Solace?”

Will cleared his throat and tried to ignore the way that Nico’s ears had grown pink, too. “Uh, Bi? Do you remember if Jessica’s parents are divorced?”

“Divorced means they don’t live together, right?” Bianca asked, and Will nodded. “Daddy, are you and Nico divorced?”

Suddenly, Will heard coughing off to the side, and turned to see Nico getting himself a glass of water. “No, Bi, divorced means that they used to be married, but now they’re not.”

“Oh! Okay. Yes, Jessica’s parents are divorced.”

Will grinned up at Nico, ready to tease him despite the growing spike of jealousy inside of him. “You know, it sounds to me like somebody has a crush on Nico.”

Nico rolled his eyes and muttered, “Great,” before taking a sip of his water.

Will ruffled Bianca’s hair and said, “Why don’t you go wash up for dinner, Bi.” He waited until his daughter had left the room before he moved to lean against the island as he said, “So, I bet you weren’t expecting you’d find yourself a recently-divorced soccer mom to date.”

“It’s not like I was  _ looking,” _ Nico replied, returning to the stove so that his back was to Will, probably on purpose so that Will couldn’t see his expression. “I don’t usually  _ plan on  _ getting hit on by soccer moms. Not exactly my type.”

The spike of jealousy seemed to melt away into a rock that sunk into Will’s stomach. “Oh. You mean, uh, someone with kids?”

Nico turned to look at him over his shoulder with a frown. “I  _ mean _ recently-divorced soccer moms.”

“Right, yeah. Of course.”

“Anyway,” Nico said. “Dinner’s almost ready. You wanna set the table?”

 

* * *

 

When Will learned that he had to work on the morning of Halloween, he was heartbroken. It shouldn’t have been a problem since it meant that he would likely be home in time to take Bianca trick or treating, but he’d gotten an email from her school about their Halloween costume parade through the school. He didn’t  _ have _ to be there, but he already felt terrible after missing out on career day and he  _ loved _ seeing kids dressed up on Halloween. 

Maybe he could ask Nico to take pictures at the costume parade for him. That wasn’t weird, was it?

It turned out that he didn’t even have to ask because Bianca beat him to it. One evening when Will was just arriving at home, Bianca was showing off her nearly-complete Halloween costume - they had yet to buy a crown for her fairy princess costume - and asked Nico if he would come to her school on Halloween if Will had to work again. It hurt, more than a little bit, to hear Bianca practically replacing him so easily, but at the same time it warmed his heart to see Nico so ready to fill his place as long as it kept Bianca happy. 

However, Nico then showed up at the Solace household without a costume on Halloween, which wasn’t going to fly. Bianca marched right up to him, pout at full blast, arms crossed and glittery pink wings lopsided on her back, and demanded to know where Nico’s costume was.

“I don’t have a costume,” Nico told her, and opened up his jacket to reveal the t-shirt he was wearing underneath. “But I’m wearing my Halloween shirt. That’s good enough, right?”

“No! You need a  _ real _ costume!” Bianca insisted, and ran out of the room.

“T-shirts aren’t costumes, Nico,” Will called out before walking past Nico to get to the coffee pot. He wasn’t allowed to go to work in full costume, but he’d put on a cat-ear headband and he had whiskers drawn on his cheeks. “Even shirts with dancing skeletons.”

“So I’m a college student, that’s my costume,” Nico tried again. “College students can’t afford new costumes.”

“Or leather jackets.”

“It was a gift!”

“Sure.” Will poured the freshly brewed coffee into a travel mug. “Besides, I would think a college student who works for a  _ doctor _ would be able to scrape up enough to make  _ some kind _ of costume.”

Will looked over just in time to see color rising on Nico’s cheeks, either from frustration or embarrassment, Will wasn’t sure. “Yeah, well, uh--”

“Found it!” Bianca cried, and ran back into the kitchen with her hands held behind her back. “Close your eyes, Nico!” Once he had, Bianca revealed a cheap, devil-horned headband, and reached up to place it on Nico’s head. She strained on her tiptoes for a second before saying, “I can’t reach!”

“Nico, kneel down,” Will said from across the room, and once he had, Bianca slipped the headband into his hair, brushing his bangs back from his forehead and offering Will an unobstructed view of Nico’s beautiful face when he blinked his eyes back open.

“Did you give me devil horns?” Nico asked, squinting at Bianca, who started to giggle.

Will pried his eyes away and cleared his throat. “I think it’s...fitting.”

“Ha, ha,” Nico replied. “Anyway, I think it’s about time we leave. Are you ready to go, Princess?”

_ “Fairy  _ princess,” Bianca corrected.

“Of course. Sorry, Fairy Princess.”

 

Will had lost track of time while he was at work. He brought Lou her lunch almost an entire hour late, and he kept getting sidetracked by new patients entering the emergency room - mostly moms who thought their children had appendicitis, though it was much more likely that they’d eaten too much candy during their school parties.

By the time he was allowed to leave for the day, he’d missed three calls from Nico, and a quick check of the time told him that he’d missed out on his chance to take Bianca trick-or-treating. Thankfully, Nico had left him a voicemail to let him know that he was going to walk Bianca around the neighborhood. At least she wouldn’t miss out because of him.

Will figured that he had no hope of trying to find Nico and Bianca while they were out, so instead he would wait for them at home. On his way back, he stopped at a store to pick up a small bag of candy to hand out in case any trick-or-treaters stopped by once he’d gotten home.

He’d almost emptied the bag by the time Nico and Bianca returned to the doorstep, Will sweeping Bianca up in a hug as soon as he saw her.

“Daddy, Daddy!” Bianca squealed. “Look at how much candy Nico and I got!”

Will set his daughter back on the ground and looked to Nico to see that he was carrying a pillowcase about half-filled with candy. “Bi, why are you making Nico carry all your candy?”

“It got heavy.”

“She’s not wrong, it’s pretty heavy,” Nico told him, quick to jump to Bianca’s defense. 

Will held out a hand, and Nico passed over the pillowcase. Will pretended to get dragged down by the weight of it as soon as Nico let go, and Bianca bubbled up with laughter. “Wow, you’re right, this is a lot!”

“Let’s go in so I can count it and eat some!” Bianca directed, and pushed past Will to open the door.

“Bi, you know the rules,” Will called after her, heading into the house, glancing behind himself to make sure that Nico was following. “It’s a school night, so you need to put on your PJs and brush your teeth so you can go to bed.”

He could hear Bianca whining from down the hall, and only rolled his eyes before he gestured for Nico to follow him into the living room, where he turned on a single lamp in the corner, then sat down on the floor and dumped out Bianca’s candy.

Nico was still standing over him, seeming almost unsure of what he was still doing there. “You’re just going to eat all of it before she even has a chance to see it?”

_ “No,” _ Will replied defensively. “I’m going to sort out anything she’s allergic to, and I’m going to eat all of  _ that.” _ He patted the carpet next to him. “Come on, sit down. Tell me about the costume parade.”

Nico hesitated before doing so, leaning back against the couch next to Will, and pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Okay, well, uh, I took some pictures--”

“Oh, show me!” Will told him around a bite of a Snickers.

Nico held out his phone between them, trying to ignore the way that Will’s warmth was seeping through his jacket, and talked through the pictures he’d taken. There were some of Bianca with her friends - he tried his best to name them all but probably failed miserably - and then there were pictures of the actual parade. Each class had lined up to walk through the halls to show off their costumes and so that parents could take pictures as they lined the walls. 

“Thank you so much for doing this,” Will told him after they’d cycled through the pictures. “I feel terrible that I haven’t been around for Bianca like I should be, but this residency is just...so much more  _ involved _ than the one I was in before, and--” He sighed, and turned to meet Nico’s eyes. “I don’t think I could do this without you, so. Thank you.”

“Oh. Uh, yeah, of course--” Nico said, sounding startled and unprepared to respond after Will unloaded so much on him in such a short span of time. His eyes looked like they were glowing, but Will was sure that it had to just be the dim light of the room around them. He’d never paid attention to the color of Nico’s eyes before, but they looked pure black, like there was no separation from pupil to iris, and Will wanted to stare into those eyes until he could find the dividing line. But Nico’s eyes kept flickering around, like he was searching Will’s face for something that he wasn’t sure he wanted to find, and then suddenly he said, “Your whiskers are smudged.”

Will snapped back to himself, letting his eyes stray from Nico’s as he reached up to rub at his own cheek, his hand coming away streaked with gray smudges. “Yeah, I should’ve figured this stuff wouldn’t hold all day. I’m surprised there’s anything left.”

He looked up to see that Nico was no longer looking at him, facing forward instead, and the dim lamp light was just enough to sparkle against something on Nico’s cheek. Will reached up to brush his thumb against Nico’s skin, causing Nico’s head to turn in the process, his lips just barely parted like he was going to say something before Will could, and they were  _ so close-- _

“Do you have glitter on your cheek?” Will blurted, pulling his hand back to show that the sparkle had rubbed off on his hand.

Nico rolled his eyes. Will thought Nico might’ve been blushing, and he wanted to run his fingers along Nico’s cheek again to feel the heat under his skin. “Bianca wanted more  _ fairy dust _ before we went trick-or-treating, and she went so overboard that she must’ve covered me in the stuff, too.”

“I just thought that you must’ve changed your costume in the middle of the day,” Will replied, and Nico frowned at him in confusion. “You’re one of those  _ Twilight _ vampires, right?”

Nico rolled his eyes so hard it must have hurt, and Will howled with laughter.

 

* * *

 

Nico woke up to sunlight streaming into the room through the cracks in the blinds, and while he was pretty sure he’d shut the blinds completely before heading to bed the night before to avoid this exact occurrence, he couldn’t find it in himself to be even the slightest bit upset. He was warm and content, something he didn’t often feel in his own bed, and he wanted to hold on to this feeling for hours.

He rolled onto his back to stare up at the ceiling - even the bed felt more comfortable than it usually did - and after a short moment, Nico realized that this  _ wasn’t _ his bedroom.  _ It’s Will’s room, _ something inside himself told him, and he chose to believe it. Nico didn’t bother to question any of it - how he’d gotten there in his sleep, or why he was there in the first place - and instead chose to relax until he felt something shift beside him, and then there was a weight on his legs, then across his hips, over his stomach and chest, and then Will’s face was hovering over his own, smiling softly down at him, eyes shining. The sunlight backlighting him made it look like he was glowing to Nico’s overtired mind, almost like Will was some kind of angel.

Will lowered himself down until their noses brushed, and when he spoke, Nico could feel his breath puffing against his lips. “Good morning.”

“Good morning,” Nico replied, feeling like he was staring up into a cloudless sky as he gazed into Will’s eyes, “Sunshine.”

Will’s smile grew impossibly brighter, so much so that Nico didn’t understand how he hadn’t gone blind from looking directly at it. Will swooped down and dragged his lips along Nico’s jaw, up toward his ear, where Will whispered, “I  _ love _ it when you call me Sunshine.”

He started working his way down Nico’s neck, kissing and licking and sucking a trail down Nico’s chest, pulling gasps from between Nico’s lips. Will only stopped at his belly button when Nico thread his fingers into Will’s hair - just as soft as he’d imagined, if not softer - and pulled him back up.

Nico felt himself starting to smile at the sight of Will hovering over him, seeming so happy himself.

“I love your eyes,” Will told him, and pressed a kiss on the bridge of his nose, right between his eyes. He propped himself up with one elbow next to Nico’s head and brought his other hand up to caress Nico’s cheek. “And I love your beautiful smile.” He kissed the tip of Nico’s nose. Will’s eyes flickered down to Nico’s lips before meeting his eyes once more. “But most of all,” he whispered, drawing himself closer, until his lips brushed against Nico’s with every word. “I love  _ you, _ Nico di Angelo.”

Nico felt his fingers tighten in Will’s hair as he tried to pull him closer, to close that millimeter of space between them, to kiss Will within an inch of his life.

And then there was music surrounding him. Something familiar, but something that didn’t fit the mood at all. 

His phone was ringing. And when Nico opened his eyes, he was back in his own bedroom, laying in his own less-comfortable bed. And Will was most likely in his own home, fifteen minutes away.

Nico groaned, pulling his blanket over his head with one hand and reaching blindly for his phone with the other. He didn’t bother to look at the number before answering with a groggy, “Hello?”

“You know, I’ve been wondering how you always manage to be asleep every time I call you,” Will said, a hint of laughter in his voice. 

Nico felt his heart stop at the sound of Will’s voice, picturing that bright smile from his dream aimed at him once again, and he had to throw the blanket off of himself before he spontaneously combusted from the sudden heat he felt all over his body.

“I, uh--”

“So, I know it’s kind of short notice, but could you come over in about an hour?” Will asked. “One of the other residents called in sick and she needs me to cover for her.”

Nico tried not to audibly groan as he sat up on his bed. “Yeah, no problem. I’ll see you soon.”

“Great! Thanks, Nico,”  Will replied -  _ I love you, _ the Will in his dream had said - and hung up on him. 

Nico drew his knees up to his chest and didn’t bother trying to quiet his frustrated groan. He rolled out of bed and headed into the living room, where Hazel was sitting on the couch, still in her pajamas and watching TV. Nico dropped onto the empty space beside her, holding himself together just for a moment before he flopped over into her lap with another groan.

“What’s the matter with you?” Hazel asked. “Why’re you all red? Are you getting sick or something?”

“Not sick,” Nico replied, pressing his hands to his face to hide the blush. “I had this… dream.”

“Gross, I don’t wanna hear about that!” Hazel said, shoving at his shoulder.

“Not that kind of dream! It was… Will was there, and we were in his bed--”

_ “Nico--” _

“It’s clean, I swear! He just...kissed me. A lot. And told me he loved me. And--” He groaned again, scrubbing his hands over his face. “I like him. A lot.”

“Sorry, could you say that without your hands over your face, so I can hear you?”

“I have a crush on my boss!” Nico exclaimed, hands no longer covering his mouth but the heels of his palms pressing into his eyes. “Is that what you wanted to hear? That I’m a twelve-year-old girl who wants to write  _ Nico Solace _ in hearts all over my notebooks?  _ God, _ I’m a grown-ass man and I’ve got a  _ crush. _ Is it even a crush if you’re legally an adult?” 

When Hazel didn’t respond after a few moments, Nico pulled his hands away from his face to squint up at her - she had her phone in her hands, and Nico only assumed that she was texting everything he said to Frank, like she always did. Nico was certain Frank didn’t care about Nico’s problems, but Hazel insisted on keeping him informed of  _ everything _ while he was away at West Point.

Nico felt his phone buzz in his pocket and he pulled it out, half expecting a text from Will, his other half thinking it might be Frank asking him to get Hazel to  _ stop, please,  _ but it was neither. Instead, there was a groupchat notification for their entire friend group.

_ FROM: Hazel; [Video 23sec] _

He stared wide-eyed up at his sister. “You didn’t.”

She grinned back down at him. “Oh, but I did.”

Nico jumped up from the couch and walked toward the door, pulling on his shoes and coat, and Hazel called after him: “Where do you think you’re going?”

“I’m changing my phone number.”

Hazel rolled her eyes. “No, you’re not. Come watch cartoons with me.”

In seconds, Nico had returned to her side, his phone turned off and tossed on the coffee table.  He could watch an episode before he went to Will’s house.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello it has been exactly 1 month since i posted the first chapter of this so i guess this will be a monthly thing if all goes according to plan  
> i hope you like it and happy birthday nico!!

Will hardly ever texted Nico more than once without a response, so when Nico received three texts from him in a row, he was already concerned.

_ FROM: Will; Hey _

_FROM: Will; I have a weird question for you_ _  
__FROM: Will; Have you had the chickenpox vaccine?_

_ TO: Will; why _

_ FROM: Will; I need you to pick up some calamine lotion and bring it over _

_ TO: Will; i’ll be there in half an hour _

Nico rolled out of bed, having yet to leave his room that morning, and threw on whatever clothes he could find before heading out with a shout of, “I’m going to Will’s,” to Hazel before he left. He drove to the nearest drugstore to pick up the calamine lotion before heading to Will’s, using his key on the locked door once he arrived.

“Hello?” he called into the house as he kicked off his shoes by the door.

“In here,” Will’s voice came from somewhere else, but before Nico could go in to find him, Will continued, “Wait! You never told me if you had the vaccine!”

“I didn’t,” Nico replied, stepping around the corner toward the living room, where he guessed Will to be. “I had chickenpox when I was four.” He held up the grocery bag when he saw Will and Bianca sitting on the couch. “You asked for calamine?”

“Nico,” Bianca started, voice whiny as she reached out toward him with a mitten-covered hand, “can you get rid of my chickenpox?”

Nico took the bottle of lotion out of the bag and walked over to the couch to hand it over to Will as he said, “Sorry, Princess, you gotta let it run its course.” He looked up when Will took the lotion from his hand and Nico spotted red marks along his arm, mixed in amongst his freckles. “You...have the chickenpox.”

Will frowned up at him. “Yes?”

“You--” Nico snorted, and covered his mouth with his hand as he started to laugh. “A grown man. I’ve never seen an  _ adult _ who has  _ chickenpox.” _

Will’s frown turned to a pout. “It’s not like I  _ planned  _ it. Bi got it from someone at school, and  _ apparently _ the vaccine only works ninety-five percent of the time.”

“Aren’t you special, then,” Nico said, and sat down on the couch in between the two Solaces. He turned to Bianca and suggested, “Bi, why don’t you go put on some shorts and short sleeves, and then you can put on the calamine lotion to help with the itching.”

“But then I’ll be cold,” Bianca complained.

“It’ll help.”

“How?”

Nico paused. “Well, when my nephew had the chickenpox, he said that he felt better when his clothes weren’t rubbing on him and making him itchier. And the lotion might make your clothes stick to you and make it worse, if you’re wearing long pants and long sleeves.”

Bianca sighed. “Okay.” She hopped off the couch and went into her bedroom to change, shutting the door behind herself.

“You can take the mittens off to change, but don’t scratch or you’ll scar!” Will called after her.

Nico had to stop himself from jumping, having somehow forgotten that Will was there beside him. He wasn’t used to being around Will for longer than it took him to run out the door to go to work. He definitely wasn’t used to sitting and talking with him when Bianca wasn’t in the room, and now that she wasn’t hogging half of the couch, Nico suddenly felt much too close to Will.

“I, uh, I didn’t know you had a nephew,” Will said.

“There’s a lot of things we don’t know about each other,” Nico replied, and he felt the corner of his mouth quirk up. Wait a second, was he flirting? He shouldn’t be flirting, what if Will caught on? What if he somehow found out about that dream that Nico had of the two of them in bed together?  _ Woah, _ Nico thought.  _ Slow down. _

“Was that true?” Will asked, and Nico’s mind went blank as he tried to remember the last thing he’d said. Had he been thinking out loud? Oh no,  _ did he mention the dream? _ “About how the clothes rubbing on your nephew’s chickenpox made the itching worse?”

Nico’s racing heart suddenly stopped, and he felt his tension flood away from him. “Well, I wasn’t about to tell Bianca that he was only a year and a half old and preferred to run around in just his diaper most of the time, but yeah, it helped as far as I could tell.”

“I’m surprised you don’t have your own inside tips,” Nico said. “You know, being a doctor and all. I’d think you would know all the secrets.”

Will grinned. “Maybe for other things, but it’s not like I’m a pediatrician. I’ve clearly never interacted with somebody who has the chickenpox if I haven’t contracted them until now.”

Nico’s smile grew until it was almost as bright as Will’s. “I still think that’s hilarious. You: an adult with a child, just now catching the chickenpox, a baby’s disease.”

Will rolled his eyes and looked away, but Nico could still see that he was smiling. “Ha ha, sure, laugh at the man suffering from that baby’s disease.”

“I would hardly call it suffering, you seem fine!” Nico argued with a laugh. “I haven’t even seen you  _ pretend _ to scratch this whole time. If I had to guess, I’d say you’re faking it.”

Of course, as soon as Nico said that, a spark of realization shone in Will’s eyes, and he reached up to scratch as his cheek before pulling his hand away just as quick. “I guess you distracted me just enough to keep my mind off of it.”

Before Nico could think of a response - but after he’d started to realize that he was staring straight into Will’s sky-like eyes - Bianca returned from her room and plopped herself right down in Nico’s lap, ignoring the open couch cushion next to him.

“I’m ready!” she announced, and with that, whatever was happening between Nico and Will seemed to break, and all attention was on Bianca once more.

Once both Solaces were coated in calamine lotion, Bianca insisted that Nico stay to watch a movie with them, which led to them watching the movie’s sequel. By the time the second movie was over, it was close enough to dinner time that they were all getting hungry, and Nico offered to make dinner. It wasn’t until Will was putting Bianca to bed that Nico started to head out, but Will called after him quietly and stopped him in the kitchen.

“Thanks again for stopping by,” Will told him. “I couldn’t exactly go out in public since I’m still contagious, and I can’t go back to work until next week because of this--”

“Oh. Okay, so you don’t need me,” Nico said, hoping that he didn’t let his disappointment show. “I guess just let me know--”

“You could still come over,” Will cut in hurriedly, and started to backtrack just as fast. “I mean, if you wanted to. You don’t  _ have _ to, but, uh, I’m sure Bianca would appreciate it. But I know you probably have your own stuff to do, so, uh--”

“Sure, just...text me. If you want. Or call, or...whatever.” He stepped toward the door, throwing a thumb over his shoulder as he said, “I’m gonna go home now. I’ll see you--”

“Yeah, I’ll let you know.”

“Cool,” Nico said, and walked out the door. 

He banged his head against his steering wheel a few times before driving home.

  
  


As soon as the Solaces were officially no longer contagious, Bianca returned to school and Will went back to work, which meant that Nico was at the Solace household almost every hour of the day once again - though he still tried to sleep in his own bed most of the time, because he was certain that couch was trying to kill him.

There was one morning - afternoon to Will, but still morning to Nico - that Will woke Nico up with a call, as usual.

“Hey, Nico,” Will greeted, and Nico made some kind of noise in response. “I have an overnight shift this week, from Tuesday into Wednesday, so I’ll need you to stay over Tuesday night to take Bi to school in the morning, but I’ll be home to pick her up. And then I’ll need you all day on Thursday, and--”

“Wait, Thursday?” Nico cut in. “Solace, that’s Thanksgiving. I’ll be in the Upper East Side all day.”

“It’s...oh. Right, of course it’s Thanksgiving. Okay, never mind about Thursday. I’ll, um. See you Tuesday.”

“Sure,” Nico said, seconds before Will ended the call.

 

Thursday morning, at what seemed like the crack of dawn to Nico but was really about nine-thirty, he and Hazel drove to the Upper East Side of Manhattan. They climbed the stairs to the third floor walk-up that Nico had lived in just a year earlier, and the door opened to reveal the smiling faces of Paul and Estelle Blofis.

Nico was immediately torn between taking the baby from her father’s arms and heading to the kitchen to help Sally with the cooking, so he walked into the living room to find Percy and Annabeth and their son Luke instead. It wasn’t until he’d made his rounds and said hello and gave too many hugs that he made his way into the kitchen.

Sally was the only one in the room, and Nico said a quick hello before he started peeling potatoes. Annabeth must have followed him into the kitchen, because she was suddenly at his side with her arms crossed over her chest.

“You haven’t called,” she told him.

“He hasn’t called me in a while either,” Sally chimed in.

Nico rolled his eyes. “I’ve been busy.”

“Oh, of course,” Annabeth teased. “With  _ Will. _ How’s that going?”

Nico shrugged. “Fine, I guess, I dunno.”

“Will is the doctor, right?” Sally asked.

“Yes--”

“With the daughter that you’ve been taking care of,” Annabeth continued.

“Uh huh.”

“If you start talking, then we’ll stop asking questions.”

Nico sighed. “Alright, fine. Uh, the kid’s cute, it’s nice to have a reason to get out of my apartment every day. It actually is helping with my classes too, like, I’ve been getting new ideas all the time, and I finally have the motivation to do my homework. And Will’s great, too, he’s--” Nico stopped himself before he said something that could be used against him, and cleared his throat awkwardly. “Um. He’s...around, sometimes.”

“And this  _ Will,” _ Annabeth said in a voice that put Nico on edge. “He wouldn’t happen to be the same guy you have a middle school crush on, would he?”

Sally turned toward them with an eyebrow raised and an amused smile. “What was that?”

“Oh, you haven’t seen the video?” Annabeth pulled out her phone with a devious grin.

Nico dropped the potato he was peeling on the counter alongside the peeler and lunged for Annabeth’s phone. “Annabeth, no!”

She played the video and forced the phone into Sally’s hands, holding Nico back as he fought to take the phone.

“No fighting in the kitchen, you two,” Sally told them, laughing as she handed the phone back to Annabeth. “And I think that’s cute, Nico.”

“I’m not  _ cute,” _ Nico grumbled, and stomped out of the kitchen.

 

Frank had been given a two-day leave from West Point which allowed him to make it to Sally’s just in time for dinner. However, Frank’s arrival also meant that he and Hazel would be sharing the pull-out couch that night, which put Nico on the living room floor while the Jackson-Chases were crammed into the guest room-slash-Estelle’s room.

Nico was used to not being able to sleep, especially when everyone else was heading to bad much earlier than he usually did himself, so he wasn’t surprised when he tossed and turned half of the night until he finally fell asleep at what he guessed was around three. He also wasn’t surprised - irritated, but not surprised - when his phone started ringing, waking him up so that he could hear everyone else already awake and in the kitchen.

“Hello?” Nico grumbled as he sat up off the floor.

“Good morning!” Will said cheerily on the other end of the call. “Did you have a nice Thanksgiving?”

Nico made a noncommittal noise in response as he stood up and started toward the kitchen. He was pretty sure he smelled coffee, and he desperately needed some of that.

Will laughed. “Alright, I get that. Did you make it home yet? I have to go into work this afternoon, so I need you to come over.”

Nico pulled a mug down from one of the cabinets before pouring himself a cup of coffee. He tried to ignore the eyes he could feel on his back and how quiet the room around him had become. “I stayed the night up here, but I can be home in a couple of hours. What time do you need me?”

“Can you be here by one?”

Nico pulled the phone away from his face to read the time:  _ 9:20am. _ He held back a groan; he should  _ not  _ be awake this early. “Yeah, I can do that.”

“Great! Thanks, Nico. I’ll see you later!”

“Bye,” Nico said, and ended the call. 

“Aw, Neeks, you’re so whipped!” Percy called out to him with a giant smile, and Nico made sure that Luke and Estelle weren’t looking his way when he flipped Percy off while taking a sip of his coffee. 

Annabeth shoved at Percy’s shoulder before telling Nico, “You two should come over for dinner sometime after you get together. No! All three of you. I bet Will’s daughter and Luke will get along great!”

“You can’t just assume that all kids are gonna get along, Annabeth.” Nico rolled his eyes and sat down at the table next to his sister. “Hazel, I need to leave soon. Are you coming with me, or are you going with Frank?”

Instead of answering, Hazel turned to Frank and gave him a  _ look. _ Frank said to Nico, “I’ll drive her home.”

“I hope you’re not thinking of leaving before breakfast,” Sally said as she set down a plate of blue pancakes in front of him. “Paul made plenty so you had better eat your fair share.”

Nico didn’t argue. He didn’t know what Paul put in his pancakes, but Nico could never make his own taste quite as good.

After he finished eating, he said his goodbyes and started toward the door, but Annabeth stopped him before he could step out.

“You should call more often, you know,” Annabeth told him, forcing a hug on him, though he only pretended to hate it. “Maybe I can give you some tips on raising your kid.”

“She’s not  _ my _ kid,” Nico reminded her, pulling out of the hug.  _ “I’m _ not raising her, either, just...looking after her sometimes.”

Annabeth winked. “Maybe one day.”

Nico rolled his eyes so hard that his head tipped back with the force of it, and he walked out the door.

  
  


Will would never tell anyone -  _ especially _ not Lou Ellen - how much he loved calling Nico every morning. No matter how terrible his morning could be, hearing Nico’s sleepy voice always put a smile on his face.

One particular morning had been pretty terrible, full of a cranky Bianca who didn’t want to go to school and angry patients who refused to cooperate, and Will knew there was only one thing that could make his day better.

He called Nico.

And somebody else picked up the phone.

“Hello?” came a perky female voice through the speaker.

Will was so taken aback that he forgot to answer until the voice said another, slightly more confused  _ hello? _ “Oh, uh, hi! I’m sorry, I must have the wrong number...somehow.”

“Wait, no! You’re Will, right?” she asked. “Nico’s told me a lot about you.”

Will wanted to feel flattered but he was too confused to know what he should be feeling. “Um. Yes, I’m Will. Is he, um. Is Nico there? Can I talk to him?”

There was a short hesitation before, “Nico’s a little...under the weather. I don’t think he’s really up for talking to anyone right now.”

“Is he okay?” Will felt his confusion vanish as worry filled him like ice through his veins. “I’m a doctor, I could come check him out-- _ over, _ I could come check him over--” He took a breath and said, quieter this time, “Is he okay?”

“No, no, don’t trouble yourself with him,” she said with a gentle laugh. “This is just his annual thing. You know how it is, right? He’ll be back to his normal self soon enough.”

Will wasn’t really sure he understood, but he still said, “Yeah, I...get it. Um. Do you think he’ll be okay by tomorrow? I was kind of hoping he could pick my daughter up from school today, but I can figure something out.”

“Give me just a second and I’ll go see how he’s feeling, okay?”

Hazel set Nico’s phone down on the coffee table where he’d left it a few days earlier and went to his room, knocking before she entered. Nico was laying on his side, facing the wall, but somehow Hazel knew that he wasn’t asleep. She sat on the edge of his mattress and placed a hand on his arm comfortingly.

She had tried speaking to him many times in the past few days, asking if he was hungry, or if he was feeling any better, but she never got any response from him. She’d barely even gotten him to drink any water.

“Nico,” she said softly, “Will called.” He shifted under her hand - the most reaction he’s shown in days. “He wants to know if you’ll be okay tomorrow for Bianca.” He flinched at the mention of her name, though Hazel knew it was a different Bianca he was thinking of. “He’ll understand if you can’t be there, but he does need an answer soon, okay?”

She waited a moment, giving him an opportunity to respond like she always did, but stood up when he said nothing. She made it to the door before she was stopped by the sound of her brother’s voice.

“I’ll be there,” Nico croaked.

Hazel walked back over to him and pressed a kiss to the side of his head. “I’ll let him know.”

She left the room, shutting the door behind herself, and returned to the living room where Will was still waiting for his answer. “Nico said he’ll be there,” she told him.

“Are you sure he’s okay?” Will asked one final time, and Hazel could hear the sincere worry in Will’s tone.

She thought back to the video she had saved on her phone of Nico practically confessing his love for the other man, and smiled to herself. Maybe Hazel couldn’t do much to help her brother, but if anyone could, she was sure it was Will. “He’ll be just fine.”

Will couldn’t get that woman’s voice out of his head for the rest of the day. He tried to continue about his day after venting to a very interested Lou Ellen during lunch, and he had to sneak out for a little over half an hour to pick Bianca up from school and bring her back to the hospital. He really hoped the hospital’s daycare was open to kids over the age of five, otherwise he might have to hide Bianca away in Lou’s room until his shift was over.

When he walked into the school’s front office and found Bianca waiting amongst a small crowd of other children, Will saw this his daughter looked confused.

“Where’s Nico?” she asked without greeting.

“He’s...sick,” Will answered, and led her out to the car where he buckled her into her carseat and returned to the driver’s seat.

“He didn’t catch my chickenpox, did he?” 

“No, he doesn’t have chickenpox. You can only get those once, and he had them when he was your age.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“I don’t know, Bi.”

“Do you think he’s sad?” 

Will met his daughter’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “Why do you think he would be sad?”

“Nico told me that his sister started living on the moon in December,” Bianca said. “It’s December  _ right now. _ Do you think he misses his sister?”

Will thought back to the story Bianca had told him of Nico’s sister, remembering how he’d doubted any truth in the story, but realizing now that there might have been one very real part of it. He felt himself filling with dread at the thought of Nico being  _ so sad _ that he couldn’t even leave his own house. Will was a doctor - he knew exactly what to prescribe to fix just about any physical ailment that he came across, but  _ sadness? _ How could Will fix that?

“You might be right, Bianca,” he said after a short pause. “But the only thing that can make sadness better is time.”

“And cookies!” Bianca exclaimed. “We should make cookies for him. Cookies make everybody happy.”

Will smiled. “Okay, sure. We’ll make cookies for him tomorrow morning before I have to go to work.”

Thankfully, when they got to the hospital, Bianca was accepted happily into the daycare so that Will could return to work. Even more thankfully, there were no severe emergencies that couldn’t be handled by the surgical interns and emergency room nurses, which meant that Will and Bianca were able to leave, swing through a fast food drive-through, stop by the store for cookie ingredients, and arrive home just in time for Bianca to get ready for bed.

Will felt ready to collapse in his own bed, but knew that he needed clean clothes for the next day and a shower wouldn’t kill him, plus there was a sink full of dishes that he knew Nico would normally wash but Will felt bad intentionally leaving them for him when Nico wasn’t in the healthiest state. 

Of course, unfortunately for Will, all the mindless activities gave him time to think, to remember the perky voice he’d heard through the phone and overthink everything about her. Who was she? Why was she in Nico’s apartment? Why would she answer Nico’s phone? Was she Nico’s girlfriend? Why would she say that she’d  _ heard so much about him _ in such a knowing tone?

Will tried to force those thoughts out of his head as he finally laid down in bed that night, but the thought of that woman being in Nico’s apartment when Will was in his own home so far away drove Will to pulling out his phone and sending a quick text to Nico before he shut his eyes and tried to fall asleep.

_ TO: Nico; Call me if you need anything. And I really do mean anything. _

When he woke up the next morning, there was no response and no missed calls.

Nico was assaulted by the smell of chocolate when he walked into the Solace house. He didn’t call out a  _ hello _ as he usually did, just kicked his shoes off by the door and walked into the kitchen where he found a heaping plate of chocolate chip cookies sitting on the island.

“Oh,” came a voice to his left, and Nico turned to see Will standing in the hallway. He smiled brightly at Nico as he unfroze himself and continued into the kitchen. “I wasn’t sure if you were still coming.”

“Do you...not need me?” Nico asked quietly, voice hoarse from disuse, and he cleared his throat after speaking to ward off the cough he felt coming.

“No, I do! I just--” Will scratched the back of his head awkwardly, “--wasn’t sure if you were...up for it.”

“Did Hazel say something to you?” Nico asked.

Before Will could answer, Bianca came running down the hall shouting Nico’s name, and attached herself to his side. “Nico, I missed you!”

Nico pulled her away from him so that he could crouch down and hug her properly. “I missed you too, Princess,” he whispered, hoping his voice didn’t shake as much as it felt like it had. When he pulled away, he could barely look at her - she looked  _ so much  _ like his Bianca, it was almost too much to bear. He stood back up and averted his eyes, blinking furiously to keep any tears from spilling.

“We made you cookies!” Bianca exclaimed and pointed to the plate on the island. “Cookies make everybody happy, so if you eat a lot of cookies then you won’t be sad anymore!”

“What makes you think I’m sad?” Nico asked.

“Well, aren’t you?”

_ That’s fair, _ Nico thought to himself. Instead, he said, “Thank you, Princess.”

“Hugs help too!” Bianca said, and wrapped her arms around Nico again. “Daddy gives really good hugs, they make me feel not sad anymore all the time, so you should hug him, too!”

Bianca released him once again, only to run over to Will and drag him closer until the two men were within hugging distance of each other. Will’s smile had turned a little uncomfortable, but Nico had his eyes locked on his shoulder so that he wouldn’t have to meet Will’s eyes. The blue of his scrubs were dull compared to his eyes; it was easier to look at and not feel quite so ashamed of his overwhelming sadness.

Will’s arms closed around him, and Nico was surrounded by warmth - a pleasant, living warmth, so unlike the uncomfortable heat of his blanket cocoon of depression that he’d been living in all weekend. He pressed his face into Will’s shoulder - was he really an entire head shorter than Will? He’d never noticed - and carefully wrapped his own arms around Will’s back, like he was afraid that too quick of a movement would scare him away.

“I’m sorry about your sister,” Will whispered, and Nico felt himself stiffen, one of his hands balling into a fist around the fabric of Will’s shirt. “You don’t have to stay. You can take another day if you need it. Take as much time as you need.”

Nico shook his head and pulled himself away. He hated the feeling of leaving Will’s warmth, of feeling the cool air surround him, only wishing he could press himself up against Will until he forgot all about ever being sad.

“I’m fine,” he lied.

“Are you sure?” Will asked. “I can try to bribe the daycare at the hospital to watch Bianca for another day, but I do need to leave, like, now.”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Nico said, cracking the tiniest of smiles. It probably wasn’t even noticeable, but he could feel it.

Will stepped away from Nico and knelt down to kiss the top of Bianca’s head with a  _ goodbye, I love you. _

“Thanks for the cookies,” Nico said, eyes flickering up just long enough to catch Will’s brilliant smile.

“Please don’t let Bianca eat all of them.” He walked around Nico to put on his shoes and grab his coat and his keys. “I’ll see you later, and I’ll text you when I’m on my way home.”

When Will turned back around to face him, Nico held the plate of cookies out toward him. “Take one. Or three, it’s not like I’ll be able to eat them all.”

Will took a single cookie and bit into it, letting out an appreciative noise at the taste of chocolate. He swallowed the bite before saying, “Bye, Nico,” and started out the door.

“Bye, Sunshine.”

  
  


_ FROM: Kayla; Hey Will! It’s me, your favorite half-sister! I just remembered that you live in New York now, so I wanted to invite you to my Christmas party on Friday! It’ll be pretty small and you probably won’t know anyone besides me and Austin, but we would love to get to know you better, so you should come!!! And YES you should wear your ugliest sweater! _

_ TO: Kayla; I’ll have to make sure I have someone to watch my daughter, but that sounds great! Also: who’s Austin? _

_ FROM: Kayla; Our brother?? _

_ TO: Kayla; We have a brother??? _

Nico was still fragile after the anniversary of his sister’s death, and all Will wanted was to wrap Nico in his arms and hold him until his smile returned, but Will knew that the touch wouldn’t be welcomed. Nico flinched even when Bianca hugged him, and it broke Will’s heart to see him in such a state.

It made him feel even worse when he had to ask Nico to stay late on Friday just so that Will could go to a party. Nico told him continuously not to worry about it, and Will kept saying that he would try not to be out late and  _ promised _ that he would finish the guest room soon.

Will changed into a pair of jeans and his only Christmas sweater before requesting an Uber and leaving for Kayla’s apartment - he didn’t want to drive himself in case he decided to have a few drinks. He realized that he’d made the right choice when Kayla insisted on doing a shot with him as soon as Will arrived, and then pushed a cup of spiked eggnog into his hands. 

After just an hour into the party, Will was already well past tispy. 

Nico never slept well in December, and had already been planning on leaving once Will came home so that he could try to sleep in his own bed. Then it was after two in the morning, and Nico heard a kind of faint scratching coming from the direction of the front door, like someone struggling to get a key into a lock. 

Nico felt a surge of anger flow through him, and tensed when he finally heard the door open. “Honey, I’m home!” Will’s voice came from the kitchen, followed by drunken giggles and the sound of keys being dropped on the counter. 

Nico rose from the couch and stood at the end of the hallway, stopping Will before he could leave the kitchen. “Bianca’s sleeping,” he said in a harsh whisper. “You should keep your voice down.”

Will was smiling brightly down at Nico, but he quickly melted into a childish pout. “Are you mad at me?” 

Nico huffed, crossing his arms and glancing to the side. “No, I’m not mad, but you’re going to wake Bianca--”

“I don’t want you to be mad, at me or ever,” Will cut in, stepping forward. “I don’t want you to be sad anymore, either. I want you to be happy. Can I help you be happy?” Will came even closer until his hands were resting on Nico’s arms and he was leaning in, sky-blue eyes flickering from Nico’s eyes to his lips and back.

Nico felt frozen under Will’s hands, under his gaze, feeling Will press even closer until Nico could smell the alcohol on Will’s breath, and pushed him away. “Don’t touch me!” Nico exclaimed, stumbling backwards. 

When he looked back up, Will was pouting again, looking like a puppy that Nico had just kicked away. Nico pointed down to the other end of the hall where Will’s room was located, and said, “Go sleep this off.”

“Come with me,” Will said, stopping directly in front of Nico once again. 

_ “No,” _ Nico told him sternly and shoved Will toward his room. “Go to sleep. I’m going to get you some water.”

He waited until he heard Will’s door opening before he looked up again, and went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Nico started back toward Will’s room when he heard a loud thud, concerned at first before he heard laughter, loud and bubbly, and when Nico pushed open the door he saw Will sitting upright on the floor with his legs out in front of him.

“I tried to take my shoes off and I fell over!” Will cackled. 

Nico walked past him and set the glass down on Will’s nightstand before he tugged off Will’s shoes and pulled him back to his feet. Will immediately dropped down onto the edge of his bed and pulled Nico in until he was standing between Will’s knees.

_ “Stop,” _ Nico said, shaking off Will’s grip and walking across the room to leave. “You’re going to overheat if you sleep in that sweater.”

“Why don’t you come over here and take it off of me?”

Nico froze, one hand on the doorknob.  _ Why is this happening to me? _ he thought to himself. Since moving to New York, Nico had been relying on meaningless hookups to distract himself from the pain he felt, most frequently around that time of the year, when he was at his lowest. He’d been better since he’d started looking after Bianca - having another person to look after had proved to be a much better distraction than sex - but Nico had been starting to crave another person’s touch more than usual. Not just anyone, either, but  _ Will’s  _ touch specifically.

Why would Will only start to show interest in him when he was too drunk to take off his own shoes? Why did it have to be  _ now, _ when Nico’s head was clouded by so many other thoughts and feelings that were normally exactly what he would want to be distracted from? Why wasn’t Nico jumping into bed with Will right now, when both of them so clearly wanted it?

Nico’s hand tightened around the doorknob, turning it and opening the door. “Goodnight, Will.”

He closed the door behind himself as he walked out, and flopped down on to the couch. Nico took out his phone and started to write out a text.

_ TO: RARA; are you awake? i need someone to talk to _

 

Will felt like he’d just walked through Hell. His head was pounding and he felt like any movement would cause him to vomit. His ass hurt for some reason, so he assumed he must have slipped and fallen on some ice outside at some point. He couldn’t even remember how he’d gotten home the night before, but at least he knew he hadn’t had his own car.

Will crawled out of bed and left his room, making a pit stop in the bathroom and waiting there for the nausea to pass before he went out to the living room.

“Daddy!” Bianca exclaimed as soon as she saw him, and Will winced at the high pitch of her voice. She jumped up off the couch and ran toward him, wrapping her arms around him, and said, “You were asleep for  _ so long!  _ You  _ never _ sleep longer than me!”

“I guess I was just really tired,” Will told her. He glanced back toward the couch where Nico’s eyes were fixed on the TV, and Will felt himself flood with some kind of guilt, but for what he wasn’t sure. “Why don’t you go watch some more TV, Bi?”

“Okay!” Bianca replied, and returned to the couch.

Will stood in the hall awkwardly for another moment before saying, “Um, Nico? Can I talk to you for a minute?”

Nico didn’t look at him as he stood up and walked into the kitchen. By the time Will met him there, Nico was already sitting at the table, so Will sat down across from him. Nico kept his eyes trained on the table.

Will didn’t know what to say, so he tried, “Are you mad at me?” Nico flinched, and Will tensed at the sight. “I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to drink that much, or--” He rested his elbows on the table and buried his face in his hands. “I don’t even know what time I got here, but it was probably really late, and I’m sorry if I woke you up when I got back.” Will groaned into his hands. “I bet I made a fool of myself in front of my brother. So much for first impressions, right?”

When a few moments passed where Nico didn’t respond, Will peeked at him over his fingers to see Nico staring back in disbelief. “You...don’t remember anything?”

Will tried to think past the pounding in his head, but couldn’t remember much after Kayla had called him a Lyft the night before. He shook his head.

Nico glared down at his hands as they curled tightly into fists on the table. When he spoke, it was through gritted teeth. “And you... _ drove _ in that condition?”

“No!” Will exclaimed, and winced when the volume of his own voice caused a surge of pain through his skull.  _ “No, _ I would never drive drunk, of course not! My sister sent me home in a Lyft, but that’s as far as I can remember. I know I got in a car, and then I woke up here.”

Nico sighed and visibly relaxed, his hands flattening out on the table, though he still didn’t look up. “Good.” He stood up slowly. “Don’t worry about last night.”

“Wait, please,” Will said, reaching out and covering one of Nico’s hands on the table before he could walk away. “Tell me what happened.”

Nico pulled his hand out from under Will’s in a flash, like he’d been burnt by the touch. He sat back down, this time keeping his hands on his lap to avoid any unwanted contact. “Bianca told you about my sister, right?”

“The one who lives on the moon,” Will recalled.

“She was killed by a drunk driver when I was fifteen.” Will felt the air leave his lungs like he’d been hit in the stomach. “We were walking in the woods behind my dad’s house, and I wanted to go inside but she didn’t, so I left her out there, all alone. I had a bad feeling, so I waited for her to come back before I went to bed, and… I think I fell asleep on the couch because the next thing I knew, somebody was pounding on the front door, so I went to open it--”

He took a deep breath to steady himself, and Will saw one of his hands tightening around his other forearm, squeezing at it like he was trying to keep his emotions under control. “This guy was standing there, and Bia was in his arms, and I knew she was already dead, but that asshole with alcohol on his breath kept shouting at me for a phone he could use. Said she came out of nowhere, ran right into his car, like it was  _ her fault--” _

“I’m so sorry,” Will whispered.

“I called the police, and he was arrested,” Nico continued, like Will hadn’t said a word. “The EMTs said that her spine was broken, and that if that drunk hadn’t  _ touched her _ then maybe she wouldn’t have  _ died.” _ Finally, Nico looked up again and met Will’s eyes, but Will shied away from the emptiness in his gaze. “So, you didn’t drive drunk, and you didn’t kill anybody. Don’t worry about anything else that happened.”

“Did I do something to upset you?” Will tried again. “I was  _ drunk. _ Whatever I did or said, it didn’t  _ mean anything, _ I promise.”

“I know it didn’t,” Nico said softly, and to Will his words sounded hollow - it was like Nico had turned into a complete shell of himself. He stood up again, but didn’t allow himself to get close enough for Will to stop him. He started toward the door, put on his shoes and coat, leaving Will frozen at the table. Finally, he turned back to Will and said, “You asked me to go to bed with you.”

He walked out the door before Will could make a sound.

  
  


Will stopped calling Nico during his lunch break, instead opting to only send him a text with a time, a place, a please, a thank you. He figured Nico didn’t have any interest in talking to him.

Will would text him when he was leaving work, whether it was at five in the afternoon or three in the morning, and every time Nico would leave as soon as Will walked through the door. Will hated the distance that was between them so suddenly - he felt like they were getting  _ close, _ like they could soon be friends instead of whatever they were, or maybe they could even be  _ more - _ but he ruined  _ everything _ in one night. One night that he didn’t even  _ remember. _

He wanted to make it all better, but he didn’t know how. He would have to regain Nico’s trust, little by little, but he felt like he needed to do something for Nico to show him how truly sorry he was for the things he said and did while he was drunk.

He decided that it was finally time to finish the guest room.

During his lunch breaks, Will sat with Lou Ellen to pick out furniture, sheets, curtains, a mattress, and ordered everything online. With rush-order shipping, everything was delivered to his house by Christmas. He’d gotten the day off, watched as Bianca opened her presents - and opened one from Bianca, which she said Nico helped her to pick out - called his mom, and had a two-hour-long internal debate on whether or not to send Nico a  _ merry Christmas _ text.

In the end, he only sent a  _ merry Christmas _ in the same text asking Nico to come over the next day, but he figured it was better than nothing, and just polite nonetheless. Then, he spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning up the guest room and assembling the new furniture. 

The next afternoon, when Nico returned - the bags under his eyes looking a little lighter than before - Bianca led him straight to the guest room to show it off. Nico had smiled, just barely, and even looked Will in the eyes when he thanked him.

That night, Will had a shift starting at midnight, so while Nico was there to watch Bianca, Will was in his room, trying to rest before he had to leave for work. Nico had started feeling a little more like his usual self, but interacting with others still exhausted him. So when he helped Bianca get settled in to sleep that night, Nico felt ready to fall asleep himself.

Instead, Nico went into the guest room -  _ his _ room, as Will had said when Nico first stepped through the doorway - and called Annabeth.

“Hey, Nico, how are you feeling?” Annabeth greeted.

Nico hesitated. “I don’t know,” he finally decided to say. “Do you have time to talk?”

“I’m always happy when you decide to talk to someone.”

“Is that a yes?”

He could practically hear the eye roll on the other end of the line. “Yes.”

“I...think I messed something up,” Nico started, but couldn’t find it in himself to elaborate.

“Okay,” Annabeth said after a moment. “What makes you think that?”

“I don’t know. I don’t feel like it’s my fault, but I don’t know who else I should blame. Maybe it really is my fault, or maybe it’s Will’s or maybe even Bianca’s.” He shook his head, though he knew that Annabeth couldn’t see him. “No, no, of course not, it couldn’t be Bianca’s fault. That drunk asshole, maybe, but never Bianca.”

He paused, waiting for Annabeth to start trying to fill in the blanks, but a full minute of silence passed between them instead.

“My head has been all messed up the last two weeks. I was barely speaking to anyone, and then-- Will got drunk. And he...said some stuff, and I  _ really _ wanted to-- But he was so drunk that he couldn’t even remember anything in the morning. I got pissed at him because I thought he drove home while he was drunk, and then I told him about Bianca. And then I...left. And it’s been weird between us since then. I don’t know what to do, and I don’t want it to be like this anymore. I want to...fix this, but I don’t know how.”

For a moment, there was silence between them once again, before Nico heard Annabeth sigh, and he knew she had finished processing everything he said. “First of all, let go of your arm.”

“What? I--” He looked down and realized that one of his hands had wrapped itself around his other arm, his fingernails digging in until there were crescent-shaped indents in his arm. Thankfully, he had yet to draw blood. He picked up a pillow and hugged it to his chest instead.

“I know you, Nico,” Annabeth said. “Now, for the rest of that. Let’s see… You were mad because you’re uncomfortable around drunk people, even when said drunk person is someone you care about. Remember when you came over to celebrate Percy’s twenty-first birthday with us? You couldn’t even be in the same room with him. You care about Will, and you care about his daughter, and you were probably afraid that something bad might happen to them because you associate alcohol with what happened to Bianca. You need to understand that that is so incredibly unlikely to ever happen again. So you need to let go of whatever this is that you’re feeling, because Will is fine, and his daughter is fine. You’re just scared, and you’re allowed to be scared.”

“Thank you, Annabeth,” Nico said softly. “I think I...need to go to sleep now to think some things through. Did I tell you that Will was fixing up the guest room in his house so that I wouldn’t have to sleep on the couch anymore?”

When Annabeth replied, Nico could hear the smile in her voice. “You two are perfect for each other. Goodnight, Nico.”

“Goodnight.”

He hung up the phone, squeezing the pillow tighter to his chest for a second before rising off the bed. Nico changed into his pajamas and grabbed his toothbrush from his backpack before heading to the bathroom.

The door opened when he walked up to it, and he was momentarily blinded by the bright light that poured over him. He blinked a few times, his eyes finally adjusting enough that he could make out the shape of a person standing in the doorway, practically glowing in the light behind him. Nico saw Will standing in front of him, his hair damp like he’s just gotten out of the shower, water dripping down his tan and freckled chest, wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist.

Nico was frozen to the spot, his brain overloading at the sight in front of him, and he didn’t even register the embarrassed look that was growing on Will’s face.

Will ran a hand through his hair, shaking more water droplets onto his chest and shoulders as a blush rose up his neck. “Uh, sorry.”

He stepped around Nico and hurried into his own room. Nico stood stuck to the floor for a few more seconds before he could manage the couple of steps into the bathroom and finally allow himself to breathe.

 

Will had to be at the hospital at midnight for the start of his shift, but there weren’t any incoming emergencies so he was able to rest in one of the on-call rooms. Except that he couldn’t clear his head enough to fall asleep - the image of Nico staring up at him with wide eyes when Will got out of the shower kept popping into his head, and Will couldn’t think of anything else for the rest of his shift.

It left him tired and cranky by the time his shift was supposed to end, and so he was even more frustrated when he was told to stay for another eight-hour shift. 

By the time is second shift was coming to an end, Will felt ready to drop, but he was paged to the emergency room about twenty minutes before he was free to leave. He dragged his feet all the way to the front desk and leaned heavily against it when he asked why he had been paged. The nurse behind the desk simply handed him a patient chart with a bed number on it.

Will heaved a sigh and walked toward the bed, going past an empty bed and momentarily debating whether he should climb in and take a nap instead of doing his job, but he continued forward instead.

He was already introducing himself before even looking at the person sitting on the bed, but when he finally did, he recognized Nico immediately through the tears pouring over his cheeks. Nico was curled up with his knees pulled close to his chest, his arms hidden from view by his legs, and to Will he looked so small and vulnerable.

Will cut off his own introduction and said, “Nico? What happened? Where’s Bianca?”

Nico’s head tipped forward until his forehead hit his knees, and he shook his head repeatedly. “I’m sorry, I’m  _ so sorry. _ I checked the allergy list, I  _ swear _ I did! I’m so sorry!”

Will felt a shot of ice run up his spine that turned him stiff for half a second before he took a deep breath. “Nico, you wouldn’t be in your own bed if something weren’t wrong with you, so please tell me what happened.”

“I’m so sorry,” Nico said again.

“Forget about Bianca for a second and tell me what’s wrong,” Will tried again in his most soothing voice.

Nico seemed to curl in tighter on himself, almost like he was trying to hide something that was held close to his chest, and he continued to apologize though his voice had faded to a whisper.

“Nico, show me your hands, please.”

He didn’t budge.

Will set his hands on Nico’s arms, just beneath his shoulders, and Nico seemed to flinch away from the touch. Will pressed Nico’s shoulders back until his hands were no longer hidden from view. He looked down to see Nico’s hands and forearms splattered with blood, almost up to the elbow, and Will gasped at the sight.

He took one of Nico’s arms in his hand, gripping it tightly despite how Nico tried to pull away from him, and examined him for injury. There appeared to be tiny gouges taken out of his skin, most crescent-shaped though a few seemed to have been torn to a larger size. 

Will examined Nico’s other arm next, though most of the blood stopped at his wrist and was more concentrated around the tips of his fingers - as if Nico had clawed open his own skin until he drew blood.

Nico continued to apologize.

“Stop apologizing,” Will snapped, his patience having been drained away after hours of working with no rest in between. Nico’s jaw snapped shut with so much force that Will heard his teeth click. 

In silence, Will wiped the blood from Nico’s arms and hands, and noticed a series of similar crescent-shaped marks along his arms.

“What are these?” Will asked. Nico didn’t respond, but tried to pull his arm from Will’s grasp once again. “Nico. Why do you have scars on your arm?”

“My dad used to yell at me, and...and hit me,” Nico said cautiously, like he was afraid that saying the words would cause his father to appear out of nowhere and do exactly that. “When I kept my mouth shut, I didn’t get hit as often. This was the only way to shut myself up.”

Will saw his hand closing into a tight fist and quickly pried it open, wrapping the palm in a few layers of gauze before Nico’s fingernails could break his skin. He tried to be quick about bandaging up Nico’s arm, though some of the larger tears needed a couple of stitches each. Once Will had finished up, Nico’s panicked breathing had returned to normal, so Will deemed it a safe time to ask about his daughter once again.

“She wanted to make brownies,” Nico told him. “She wanted to taste the batter but I told her not to because of the raw eggs, but I turned my back for a  _ second, _ and she just have tasted it anyway because then she was choking but I couldn’t figure out  _ why. _ So I took the...the pen from the drawer, the epi pen that you keep in the kitchen, and I used that and then called an ambulance, but I-- They separated us because I was panicking so I didn’t see where she went, but I’m  _ so sorry--” _

“I told you to stop apologizing.” He gathered up the supplies he’d used to dispose of them and stood to leave. “Wait here,” he said to Nico, and closed the curtain around his bed as he left. 

His shift had officially ended about ten minutes ago, but he knew he would be staying much longer than that already. Will returned to the front desk to ask where Bianca had been taken, then tracked her down in her own bed with a single doctor standing over her.

“Bianca!” Will exclaimed upon seeing her, and rushed forward to press a kiss to her forehead. “I was so worried when Nico didn’t know where you were. How are you feeling, Bi?”

“I’m okay, Daddy,” Bianca replied, her voice slightly raspy. 

Will looked up to the doctor who appeared to be checking the readings on the machines around them - he recognized the other man immediately. “Cecil, how is she?”

“Like she said, she’s okay,” Cecil replied. “That babysitter did everything right; perfect use of the epi pen, got her here in good time. It really freaked him out, though, huh?”

“Is Nico okay?” Bianca asked suddenly, looking around Will to see if Nico was hiding behind him somewhere. “Where is he?”

Will felt a little hurt, a small part of him feeling like Nico was almost starting to replace him as Bianca’s dad - wasn’t he good enough for his own daughter?

“Nico got hurt when the ambulance was bringing you here,” Will explained, trying to leave out as many details as possible. “I helped him out, though, so he’s just fine now.”

“You’re such a good doctor, Daddy,” Bianca told him. “Can Nico come over here?”

Will tried not to outwardly frown. “Of course he can. I’ll be right back.”

Before he could step away, Cecil caught Will’s attention by saying, “I’m going to get her discharge paperwork started. Should I grab you an extra for the babysitter?”

“Yeah, thanks, Cecil,” Will replied, and went back to where he’d left Nico.

He’d curled up on himself again, picking absently at the edges of his bandages, but he seemed to have stopped crying for the time being. Will approached him, told him that Bianca wanted to see him, and started walking away again. He didn’t want to deal with Nico, he just wanted to take his daughter home and fall asleep on the couch while they watched a movie together. He didn’t want to be replaced by Nico as Bianca’s father, no matter how stupid the thought made him feel - of  _ course  _ he couldn’t be  _ replaced, _ but was he not providing enough for her on his own?

He needed to sleep, most of all. That would reset his brain and make him stop thinking such stupid, selfish thoughts. Could it really be that he was unable to stop thinking about Nico just hours beforehand?

Nico had started crying again by the time they walked up to Bianca’s bed, and Will had to stop himself from rolling his eyes - what was  _ wrong _ with him today?

“Nico, why are you crying?” Bianca asked.

“I was worried about you,” he replied, reaching out and wrapping one of his hands around hers.

“Don’t worry about me! I’m okay!” Bianca told him with a bright smile. She turned her focus to Will and asked, “If I’m okay, that means we can go home now, right? I want Nico to make mac and cheese for dinner.”

“We’ll be home soon,” Will replied, and planned to end the thought there, but something pushed out of him, “I’ll make mac and cheese for you when we get home. I think Nico needs to go to his own home and take a break.”

Nico stared back at him with shock clear on his face. “No, I’m fine, it was just an accident, Solace.”

Before Will could argue, Cecil returned with two clipboards, one of which he handed to Will, and the other was given to Nico. Will checked a few boxes and signed on a couple of the lines before offering the clipboard back and scooping his daughter up in his arms.

“Let’s go home, Bi,” Will said, and started walking toward the doors.

Nico hadn’t even picked up his pen, instead watching them leave with an expression mixed with shock and sadness. “It was  _ one mistake.” _

  
  


The last time Nico spoke was two days ago when he left Annabeth a voicemail that said, “I think I might’ve been fired,” and then proceeded to ignore any call or text he got afterwards that wasn’t from Will - there hadn’t been any from Will.

He didn’t sleep, or he was pretty sure that he didn’t sleep, just stared blankly at the wall and checked his phone every time it buzzed on the mattress beside his head. He never checked in on his online classes, never did any of the work, never ate or drank unless Hazel forced it upon him. 

Nico would have missed his own New Year’s party if Percy hadn’t gone into his room and physically carried him out to the couch to socialize with Annabeth and Hazel, and Luke who took up residence on Nico’s lap for a majority of the night, playing video games on Percy’s phone.

Percy tried to talk to him a few times, though nothing he said managed to get through to him. Hazel had most likely gotten fed up with Nico’s mood swings, if her blatant ignoring of him was any clue. Annabeth, however, had sat down next to Nico and started reminding him of the conversation they’d had a few nights before, and coaxed Nico into explaining what had happened that brought him to the state he was in now.

“If it was an accident, then there’s no reason for him to fire you,” Annabeth assured him. “You’re worrying for nothing again, just give him some time to calm down.”

Nico nodded slowly. “Thank you.”

“There’s nothing else you’re upset about, is there? Nothing about your sister?”

He shook his head. No, just Will. Everything was about Will nowadays, wasn’t it?

After the Jackson-Chases had left and Hazel had gone to bed, Nico made his way into the kitchen for the first time in days. He drank a few glasses of water, ate some of the raw vegetables that had been on some veggie tray Annabeth had brought over and left there, and then started baking cookies until the early hours of the morning. That night, he finally managed to sleep.

He was woken up by the feeling of something landing on his legs.

Nico sat up with a groan, rubbing at his eyes before looking to see what had fallen on him, and saw Bianca sitting on his shins. “Bianca?” Nico asked, taking a quick glance around to make sure he was in his own room. He was, so how did she get there?

“You’re awake!” Bianca exclaimed with a bright smile. “Hazel told me to wake you up.” She hopped off the bed and started pulling at Nico’s arm until he rose from the bed as well. He was dizzy when he stood, and he desperately needed a glass of water. “Come on! Daddy wants to talk to you!”

Nico wouldn’t have been able to move if Bianca hadn’t been tugging him out the door.

“Daddy! Hazel! I woke up Nico!” Bianca called as she walked Nico into the living room where Will and Hazel were sitting on the couch.

“That’s great, Bianca,” Hazel said, getting up and walking toward them. She took Bianca’s free hand and said, “Let’s go to the kitchen and give your dad and Nico some time to talk. Nico stayed up really late last night making cookies, and I bet he made them just for you.”

She glanced up at Nico with a raised eyebrow, silently asking if it was okay to leave him alone, or maybe asking if it was okay for them to eat the cookies. Nico mentally scanned Bianca’s allergy list that he’d memorized months before - though he still wasn’t sure what had caused her reaction a few days prior - and nodded once. Yes, they could leave, and yes, the cookies were safe for Bianca to eat. 

He watched them leave the room, and when he turned back, Will had risen to his feet, staring right back at Nico with a completely neutral expression on his face. Nico felt himself shrinking under Will’s gaze, his arms crossing over his stomach, one hand absentmindedly starting to scratch at his arm - he’d taken the bandages off already, though the cuts were still pretty fresh.

Nico was waiting for Will to speak first, but when he didn’t, Nico blurted out, “Are you going to fire me?”

Will’s neutral expression broke in surprise. “What? No, you thought I came all the way over here just to fire you? I wanted to make sure you’re okay.” He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans and shuffled his feet uncomfortably. “I tried calling you, but Hazel answered and said she didn’t know what was wrong because you weren’t talking to her. She gave me your address so I could come check on you myself.”

“Oh.” Nico’s hand tightened around his arm, his gaze dropping to the floor. “You...didn’t have to do that.”

Suddenly, Will’s shoes were in Nico’s line of sight, and Will’s hands were wrapping around Nico’s wrists and pulling his hands apart. Nico’s immediate reaction was to try to tug his hands from Will’s grasp, but Will didn’t let go. “Stop--” Will started sternly, but caught himself and continued in a much more relaxed voice, his grip on Nico’s wrists loosening but still not letting go. “Stop hurting yourself. Stop beating yourself up over this. It’s not your fault that Bianca had a reaction, and I’m sorry for snapping at you. I was tired and worried, and I know that’s not an excuse for how I acted, but...I’m sorry.”

Nico’s eyes flickered up to meet Will’s, and for the first time in days, Nico saw the sky.

“I never should have said that you couldn’t come home with us,” Will continued. “You were just as worried about Bianca as I was, and you should’ve been at home with us that night so that you could’ve known she was okay. And… And so  _ we _ could’ve known that  _ you _ were okay. She--  _ I--”  _ Will sighed. “We both miss you. Please come back?”

Nico felt his chest swell up when Will looked at him. Like his lungs were filling with water, or panic was rising up in him. Or maybe it was something else.

“Okay.”

  
  


Nico had been back for about a week. He still seemed cautious about what to cook for Bianca, but he’d started to let loose a little. He’d started spending the night more and more often, cooking breakfast and driving Bianca to school almost every morning, and still sometimes falling asleep on the couch with his laptop on his lap. 

They were almost back to where they were before Christmas. Where that was exactly, Will wasn’t sure. Something closer to friends than boss-and-employee, but with hints of something  _ more. _

Which left Will feeling jealous.

It took him a while to come to that conclusion, but he couldn’t find any other words to describe how he was feeling. How he wanted to change the topic whenever Nico mentioned Hazel, or how angry Will felt whenever he even  _ thought  _ of her. She was quite possibly the sweetest person Will had ever met, and she obviously made Nico very happy, and Will  _ wanted _ Nico to be happy, right? 

No. Will wanted Nico to be happy with  _ him. _ Not  _ Hazel. _

So. Will was jealous.

And then, just days after Will had made this revelation, Nico’s car had broken down. Nico’s shiny, expensive, never-had-a-problem, high-school-graduation-present car had broken down. 

Nico didn’t bother telling this to Will until he arrived a few minutes late one day with Hazel trailing into the house behind him.

“Hey,” Nico called into the house, and Will rushed around the corner, smiling brightly until he saw  _ her _ . “Sorry I’m late, my car broke down. Hazel had to drive me.”

Will tried to smile back at Hazel, greeting her politely, but he just wanted her  _ out of his house. _

“Thanks for driving me,” Nico said to Hazel, leaning in to kiss her cheek, and Will felt his blood boil. “I’ll let you know if I need you to pick me up.”

“I can take you home,” Will cut in. “Uh. Probably.”

Nico smiled.  _ God, _ Will had missed that smile. “Sure, we’ll see.” He stepped to the side, opening the door for Hazel to leave, and said, “I’ll see you later.”

“Bye, Will,” Hazel said to him with a quick wave. “It was nice to see you again! And bye, Nico, I love you!”

“Love you, too,” Nico said, shutting the door after Hazel walked out. He turned back to Will and rolled his eyes, but he was still smiling. 

Will needed to get out of there before he did something stupid. 

“I’ll text you when I’m on my way home,” Will forced out, stepping into his shoes and grabbing his coat. 

“Sounds good,” Nico replied, already walking away. He turned back just for a second and smiled. “Bye, Sunshine.”

_ God, _ Will had missed that, too.

 

Will could barely get through his shift with the jealousy rooted so deeply in his bones. He kept hearing Hazel’s voice in his head, telling him things like how she’d met Nico, or what they’d done for their first anniversary. Will had had to scream into a pillow in a locked on-call room for about a minute before he could get back to work. He  _ desperately _ wanted his shift to end so that he could go home and have dinner with Nico and Bianca. And after Bianca went to bed, Will would have Nico all to himself, even if it was just platonically. 

When Will got home - hours after his shift was supposed to end, and too late for his platonic fantasy dinner-and-a-movie plan - the only thing he could hear was the TV playing in the living room. It was unusual, since it was past Bianca’s bedtime and Nico tended not to watch TV on his own, and so for a second Will feared that Hazel had returned.

However, when Will rounded the corner, he saw only Nico sitting on the couch. He was slouching, staring just to the right of the TV as he chewed on his thumbnail, his knee bouncing as his foot tapped to an unheard beat. He looked  _ nervous. _ Will had never seen him like that before.

“Nico?” Will asked quietly as he walked further into the room, and Nico jumped, head snapping toward Will. He really must’ve been distracted. “Are you alright?”

Nico shrugged, looking down at his hands.

“Nico,” Will tried again, sitting next to him on the couch. “Tell me what’s wrong. Please.”

Nico took a deep breath. “Bianca asked if I had a girlfriend,” he rushed out.

Now Will was even more confused. “Okay. And?”

Nico groaned, grinding the palms of his hands into his forehead, leaning forward with so much force that he almost tipped right off the couch.. “No, not okay! It’s not, because I don’t-- I’m not--”

Will felt a spark of hope.  _ I don’t...have a girlfriend? I’m not...straight? _ Will held his breath.

“I’m gay and I didn’t know if you were okay with that, so I didn’t tell Bianca anything, because I didn’t want to teach her something that you weren’t okay with.”

Will forgot to breathe. For a little while. He figured by now his face was pretty red, but from blushing or lack of oxygen, he didn’t know. When Nico realized he wasn’t talking, he looked up at him, finally pulling his hands away from his face. “Solace?”

“I’m okay with it!” he said, probably a little bit too loud. “I’m okay with it because I am, too. I’m-- I mean, I’m bi, and she knows, and I think she understands it, but yeah, anyway. Yes, I’m okay with it, you can tell her. If you want.”

Nico’s eyes were wide - and Will’s probably were, too, but he was still trying to catch his breath and couldn’t really control what the rest of his body was doing right then. He was pretty sure he was smiling like a maniac, but he couldn’t help it.  _ Nico’s gay! And not dating Hazel! Will might actually have a  _ chance  _ with him! _

“You’re...” Nico started. “Okay. Okay.” He stood up and grabbed his backpack off the ground next to him. “I have to go home.” Nico rushed out of the living room, and made it all the way to the front door before Will remembered that Nico didn’t have a car. Frankly, he probably remembered before Nico did. 

Will shot up, running after him and catching him before it seemed like he was about to start walking home. “Nico! Hang on, it’s like, zero degrees out, what are you doing? Come back inside, I’ll drive you home in the morning.”

Nico was already visibly shivering when he turned back around. “Okay. Okay.” He brushed past Will on his way back inside.

  
  


Will hated storms. He hated the rain, and he hated being stuck inside the house, and he hated thunder that shook a house’s foundation. Bianca hated the flashes of lightning that made a room as bright as day for just a second before the thunder boomed around her. Nico hated storms for a completely different reason.

There was a snowstorm coming down from the north, bringing with it at least an inch of snowfall and a high chance of thunder and lightning. Will had already gotten an email from Bianca’s school that announced the building’s closure in anticipation for the storm, and Will started to worry that he wouldn’t be able to make it to work in the morning.

He had hurried home after work that evening, partly because of the forecast, and partly because he’d gotten a text from Nico saying,  _ text me if youll be home by 6 and ill make enough dinner for the 3 of us _ . Will, loyal fan of Nico’s cooking that he was, would have traded shifts with someone if he had to be at the hospital later than six that night. He would  _ not  _ miss out on Nico’s cooking.

So he made it home just as the snow was starting to pick up. When he walked in the door, Nico was putting the finishing touches on the meal, and Bianca had her face pressed into a window, watching the giant snowflakes fall. She’d never seen snow like that in Nashville.

Will stomped the snow off his boots, untying them and leaving them by the door, then hung up his jacket and scarf. After living in Nashville for most of his life, Will still wasn’t used to the negative temperatures that hit New York.

“Please tell me dinner will warm me up,” Will said, rubbing his hands together.

Nico rolled his eyes (he’d gotten used to the cold weather, unlike  _ somebody _ ) and pointed to each pot and pan, naming off each food and giving a brief description before Will could ask (because he knew Will would ask).

Will helped Bianca set places at the table as Nico brought the food over, and as soon as they all sat down to eat, Nico’s phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket as Will and Bianca looked at him in confusion. Nico’s phone had never once rang in front of them in all of the time that Nico had spent at the house. He never got a call, he never got a text, he never so much as got a twitter notification. They watched him press  _ end call _ and set the phone down next to his plate. 

When Nico noticed them watching him, he gestured to the food. “Well? What are you waiting for?”

Will scooped some food onto Bianca’s plate, not exactly sure what he was giving her, just making sure it was small portions in case she didn’t like something, and then gave himself slightly larger servings of everything.

He saw that Nico had just taken a bite of something when his phone went off again, only this time what sounded like a call was really just a large amount of texts coming in all at once.

“I’m sorry,” Nico said as he picked up the phone to stop it from vibrating the entire table. “I had my phone turned off today for this exact reason, I don’t really know why I turned it back on now.”

“It’s fine,” Will said, though he was worried that something was wrong. “Is it something important?”

“No.” Nico took another bite and his phone started buzzing again in his hand. He looked at the screen and winced. “I’m sorry. I have to take this.”

He stood up and headed toward the guest room, answering the call when he was only halfway through the living room. “Hello, Father, does this have to happen right now?” There was a pause, and then, “I was  _ trying  _ to enjoy a nice dinner--” and then the door shut, and Will could hear no more.

Him and Bianca picked at their food for a little while in silence. Will still had no idea what he was eating, but it was good. Some kind of pasta with vegetables, though not with any kind of sauce that Will recognized. Normally, he would have been concerned about Bianca’s allergies, but he trusted Nico not to cook something that she couldn’t eat.

“Is something wrong with Nico?” Bianca asked, and Will noticed she was just pushing most of the food around on her plate.

“I don’t know, Bi,” Will answered honestly. It was shaping up to be a strange evening, and Nico sure was taking a while with that phone call. “I just hope he doesn’t have to leave,” he said as he looked out the window. “I don’t think there’s any getting through that snow, no matter how long you’ve lived in New York.”

The two went back to eating, not speaking, and hearing only the increasingly powerful gusts of wind, the sounds of forks scraping across plates, and the occasional muffled noise coming from the guest room whenever Nico raised his voice.

Will wanted to go check on him, but thought it might be an invasion of his privacy.

The thunder started not long after. Will hadn’t noticed any lightning mixed in with the snow, but the deep rumbles that shook the house were unmistakable. It made him wish he’d bought a house with a basement, someplace that he wouldn’t feel the ground shake under his feet.

Bianca had finished eating, and Will was starting to feel full, but Nico’s plate remained full and almost untouched. Will’s worry grew. 

He didn’t know how long he poked around at the small amount of food left on his plate before he couldn’t see it anymore. He looked up, looked around, but he couldn’t see anything anymore, except the now-present lightning that gave him flashes of his own home. 

And that’s when he finally heard a door opening.

“Thank god,” he heard Nico say from the direction of the guest room, but he still couldn’t see him. “The cell towers must be out.”

Will heard his footsteps stop as he entered the kitchen.

“So much for a nice warm meal,” Nico muttered, and suddenly the flashlight on his phone lit up.

“Nico are you okay?” Bianca asked, and Will could see just enough to spot the confused look that Nico gave her.

“Yeah, Princess, of course I’m okay. Why would you think I’m not okay?”

“You were on the phone for a really long time and I heard you shouting.”

Nico winced before starting to clear the table. “I’m sorry. I never should have turned my phone on today.”

“If it was your father, then I’m sure it was important,” Will said stood to help. “Bi, can you help clear the table please?”

Bianca took her plate to the sink as Nico huffed. “It wasn’t. Nothing he couldn’t have said in a text. A two word text, instead of--” he looked at the time on his phone “--a thirty six minute phone call. God, I’m so sorry.”

“Hey, you’ve got nothing to be sorry for,” Will told him. “It’s not like this was supposed to be some special family dinner or something.”

But suddenly, Will got the feeling like it  _ was _ supposed to be something exactly like that.

“Right,” Nico muttered, then louder said, “Do you have any candles anywhere?”

 

Will packed up the leftovers while Nico ate a little bit more of his now-cold food, but he quickly lost his appetite at the taste. It wasn’t the same when it wasn’t warm anymore. 

The three of them each carried a flashlight, and Nico had gone around lighting candles in the kitchen, living room, and bathroom, though the faint light in the house only made the flashes of lightning outside so much more prominent. Will noticed that with each lightning strike, both Nico and Bianca flinched. Will made sure to close the curtains in the living room to help block out the lightning, and moved the candles from the kitchen into the living room as they all settled down there. The candlelight made Will’s hair look golden, but only succeeded in making Nico look tired. 

The three of them sat on the floor in the living room playing Go Fish in the candlelight, until Bianca got too tired to play anymore.

“It’s dark and scary and I don’t wanna sleep in my room by myself,” Bianca complained when Will decided it was time for her to go to bed.

“What if we all sleep out here?” Nico suggested. “We can all bring out a bunch of pillows and blankets, then it’ll be like a sleepover.”

“Okay!” Bianca said, and she jumped up and ran to her room, clicking on her flashlight as she went. She came back quickly with her arms loaded full of pillows and blankets, and dropped them all on the floor in a heap. She plopped down on top of the heap and curled up like she was going to fall asleep right then. 

“Just because it’s a sleepover doesn’t mean you don’t have to brush your teeth, Bi,” Will said in a very  _ dad _ voice. “And put on some warm pajamas, too.”

When Bianca complained, Will stood and ushered her toward her bedroom to make sure he had warm enough pajamas. Nico cleaned up the cards before heading off to the guest room to change into his own pajamas. Thankfully, he’d been keeping some of his clothes in the dresser, since it was easier than bringing a change of clothes every time he came over. He changed into sweatpants and a long sleeve t-shirt, grabbing his backpack, a pillow, and the comforter and a pillow off the bed before heading back to the living room. 

Bianca and Will were both in the bathroom brushing their teeth when he walked past the open door, Bianca in footie pajamas, and Will still in his scrubs. 

Nico set his things down next to the couch. He went to brush his teeth when he noticed that both Will and Bianca were out of the bathroom, and when he came back to the living room, Bianca looked ready to fall asleep, and Will was nowhere to be seen. 

The coffee table had been moved away from the couch so that there was more room for them all to spread out, which must’ve been Will’s doing. Nico sat on the ground, leaning back against the couch, and pulled out his phone. He might as well read all those texts he’d gotten earlier.

As soon as he’d opened up the messaging app, Will came into the room with a pile of blankets in his arms, and plopped them down next to Nico, revealing his blue flannel pajama pants and luminescent orange sweatshirt with the name of some college across the front. 

“You’re practically glowing in the dark,” Nico commented, putting his phone off to the side.

“It’s going to get pretty cold with the heater not working,” Will said with a shrug, stuffing his hands in the pocket of his hoodie. “Gotta keep warm.”

The two of them were quiet as they situated themselves, and in a couple of minutes, they were both wrapped up in blankets and listening to the quiet snores coming from the six year old across the room.

“I figured she’d be out pretty quick,” Will said, smiling at his daughter.

Nico hummed, eyes flickering down toward his phone, when he heard Will speak again. 

“So, I’m sorry if this is kind of intrusive, but I have to ask,” he started, “you seemed...angry, with your dad. Is everything alright? I mean, I know you said that he wasn’t the greatest, so I kind of assumed you wouldn’t keep in touch with him anymore.”

Nico sighed and seemed to consider his words carefully. “He’s my dad, you know? He’s the only dad I’ve ever had, and he’s trying to be better, but I wish he wouldn’t just done it years ago, when it mattered.”

“I get that,” Will said. “My dad was pretty awful when I was a kid, too, but he never ended up trying to do anything to change it. He tricked my mom into believing that he loved her, and they got married for about two months, which was enough time for him to cheat on her. I didn’t find out until I was around ten that the reason my dad wasn’t around was because he had another family. Or, well, a lot of other families. Turns out I had at least four siblings I’d never met.”

“Four?” Nico asked incredulously.

Will nodded, and started counting them off on his fingers. “There was Lee - the oldest - and Michael came next, both with different moms, and both of them joined the military. I don’t remember which branches, but I don’t think they ever met. They were both killed in action, so I never actually got to meet them, just heard about them. And then there’s Kayla, the one who had the...the, um, Christmas party.” Nico hid a grin. Will sounded  _ embarrassed _ . “A-and Austin. I just met him at Kayla’s, but he lives in Manhattan, so I’m hoping I can get to know him better. He’s a musician, goes to Juilliard. He can play  _ anything, _ like when I first asked him about it, he just listed off all the instruments he can play, which was a  _ ton. _ And he’s just like, ‘Right now I’m learning the violin, but strings are kind of hard for me, so we’ll see how it goes.’”

Nico smiled down at his lap and let Will’s words hang in the air between them for a moment before he said, “A few months after Bianca died, I found out I had another sister,” The air flew out of Will’s lungs. “Turns out that my dad had gone on a business trip to New Orleans once, and met some fortune teller and had a fling. Child services called our house once, and I answered the phone. This lady just kept saying something about how _Marie_ _somebody_ died and since my father was financially stable enough to support another child, they were flying _his daughter_ to California to live with us. I got really mad at my dad about that, like he’d planned to have another kid to replace Bia, or something stupid like that. After I got over the shock, the first thought I had was, _I can’t believe he married a Maria and had another kid with a Marie_.”

“So Maria is your mother?” Will asked.

“Was,” Nico corrected. “She died when I was four. It was a car accident during a thunderstorm.” Coincidentally, thunder shook the house right at that moment, and Will saw Nico trying to repress a flinch. “My father had remarried a little while after that, to a woman named Persephone. When she found out about Hazel, she got super pissed at my father and didn’t talk to him for a couple of days, even though that ‘ _ business trip _ ’ had happened in between wives.”

Will gasped. “Hazel’s your _ sister?” _

Nico turned to look at Will. “Yeah. Why, who did you think she was?”

Will shrugged and looked away, thankful for the dim lighting that hid his blush. “A friend, I guess. You don’t exactly look alike.”

“Yeah, but we’re still family. She’s been living with me for a few months until her boyfriend graduates from West Point. I have a feeling they’re going to get married pretty soon, especially if he ends up in the army, which is bound to happen sooner or later.”

“I considered joining up for a little while,” Will said, eyes on Bianca. “Go in as a doctor, they’d pay off my student loans, but then Bi came along, and I couldn’t just leave her alone at my mom’s or someplace for so long that she wouldn’t know me when I came back.”

In the faint light, Will noticed Nico shiver and wrap the comforter tighter around himself.

“Are you cold?” Will asked. “Let me go get you a sweatshirt.” He was up and out of the room before Nico could reply. Truthfully, Will was thankful for the break in the conversation. He wasn’t sure that he was ready to tell Nico about how he’d come to be the sole caretaker for Bianca. He returned quickly, a light grey sweatshirt in his hands, which he tossed to Nico before sitting back down.

“Thanks,” Nico said, once the sweatshirt was pulled over his head. “I hope you don’t mind me staying here tonight.”

“Are you kidding? I could barely get home from work, there’s no way someone could’ve driven you home! I would have insisted you stay, even if you did have your big, fancy car.”

Nico rolled his eyes; Will could see that even in the dark. “It’s not  _ fancy.” _

“Nico, that car cost more than my mom’s house,” Will insisted. “I still can’t believe that it was a  _ high school graduation present.” _

“Fine, it’s not that expensive for  _ my family.” _

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means...” Nico tucked his hands into the sleeves of the sweatshirt and looked down at his lap. “My father owns a recording studio in LA, so we’ve never exactly been tight on money. And my mother’s father was an Italian ambassador, who left trust funds for Bianca and me. And then when Bia died, her trust was merged with mine. And my mother’s insurance money paid for my college classes and the private schools I went to when I was younger.”

“You’re  _ loaded?” _ Will asked, voice loud in shock and jaw left hanging open.

Nico’s head snapped up towards his, hands coming out of the sleeves as he held a finger up to his lips, the other hand pointing toward the still-sleeping Bianca.

Their faces were close. Nico could’ve counted Will’s freckles. Will could’ve finally seen the separation of iris and pupil in Nico’s eyes if the lighting had been better. Instead, Will’s eyes dropped to the finger over Nico’s lips. His eyes lingered there for longer than he’d intended them to, and he snapped his jaw shut when he managed to focus his eyes back on Nico’s.

“I can’t believe you’re rich,” Will whispered, finally pulling his eyes away from Nico’s face. Nico had returned his hands to his sleeves relaxing back against the couch again. He looked so small in Will’s oversized sweatshirt, head tilted down sheepishly. “I can’t believe you’re rich and  _ I’ve  _ been sneaking extra money into your paychecks to help you fix your car!”

Nico laughed lightly. “You have?”

“And you didn’t even notice! Do you even look at your paychecks?”

“Not really,” Nico admitted.

“Alright, you owe me now,” Will decided.

“What, you want me to pay you back the money you didn’t have to give me?”

“No, no, keep the money, whatever,” Will said, waving a hand at Nico. “You owe me one answer to any question I ask you.”

“Can I veto something I’m not comfortable answering?”

Will thought about it for a second. “I guess so. But only one!”

“Okay, go ahead, then.”

Will didn’t even hesitate. “What were all the texts and calls about earlier?”

Nico sighed, glancing off to the side where his phone was sitting on the ground. “Well, to be fair, I haven’t actually looked at the texts.” He picked up the phone, turning on the screen and holding it in a way that Will could see just as well as he could. The messaging app was still open, and Nico tapped on the first thread at the top. 

_ FROM: Frank; Happy Birthday, Nico! :) _

_ FROM: Hazel; happy birthday!!! i love u!!! _

_ FROM: Annabeth; Happy Birthday! _

_ FROM: Sally; Happy birthday, Nico. I hope you have a great day! _

_ FROM: Percy; Happy birthday man _

_ FROM: Percy; hppy birhtday unkle nico _

_ FROM: Percy; That last one was from Luke _

_ FROM: ra-ra; Happy birthday, it’s your turn to visit. _

_ FROM: Leo; happy old day bro _

_ FROM: Jason; Happy birthday son _

_ FROM: Piper; Happy birthday! _

_ FROM: Thalia; happy birthday _

“It’s your  _ birthday?” _ Will asked.

Nico shrugged, eyes locked on his phone.

“Why didn’t you tell me? I would’ve taken the day off or something! You didn’t have to come here today, you could’ve-- I don’t know, hung out with your friends, or something!”

“My friends all have jobs, Solace,” Nico responded. “They all had to work today, and I’d much rather be here than sitting by myself in my room all day.”

Will was hit with a realization. Punched in the gut with this realization. “It  _ was _ supposed to be some kind of special family dinner, wasn’t it?”

Nico shrugged again, putting his phone down in his lap. He seemed almost uncomfortable. “I guess. I made a bunch of my favorite foods, there were cannoli for dessert, too, but we didn’t exactly get to that. My father only called because he was trying to make up for never calling me on my birthday, and I couldn’t get him to shut up. And then he put  _ Seph _ on the phone.” He sighed again, tossing his head back to rest against the couch cushions. “I just wanted to have a nice dinner for once.”

“If it makes you feel any better, it was a nice dinner,” Will offered, bumping his shoulder against Nico’s. “Would’ve been better with you there, but the food was good.”

Nico’s head lolled to the side so we could look at Will. He had the tiniest smile on his face, and Will wanted to keep it there.

“Tell me about your friends,” Will blurted.

Nico picked up his head. “Why?”

“I--” Will didn’t know. “How do you know all of them?”

Nico paused for a second, staring at Will as if to try to find some kind of ulterior motive. He clicked his phone screen back on and read down the list of names. 

“Okay, well. I told you about Frank already, he’s Hazel’s boyfriend,” Nico started. “Hazel, of course, is my sister. Percy and Annabeth are married, and Luke is their son. I actually, uh, really hated them in high school. I was closeted and had a crush on Percy, so I hated him for that, and I hated Annabeth because she was dating him, but I got over my crush and learned to like them both. Oh, and, uh, Sally is Percy’s mom. I lived with her for about a year when I first moved out to New York.

“Ra-Ra is my best friend Reyna. She lives in San Francisco, so I haven’t seen her in a little over a year. We also met in high school, but she was a senior when I was a sophomore, so we only met because we were partnered for a class project. Next is Leo, he’s my cousin Jason’s best friend, and he’s accidentally set himself on fire more than a few times.”

“Accidentally?” Will asked.

Nico shrugged. “It’s a gift, or so he claims. Anyway, uh. Jason, my cousin. He calls me  _ son _ sometimes because I once gave him a Father’s Day card as a joke but he took it to heart. Piper is Jason’s fiancee. I introduced her to Jason after we met at one of our fathers’ business meetings or whatever. And last is Thalia, Jason’s older sister. Her and Bia used to have a  _ No Boys _ club when we were kids because they thought me and Jason were annoying.”

Nico closed out of the messaging app and pulled up his photo gallery. “I think I have pictures of everyone, hang on.”

He leaned against Will’s side and held his phone out as he scrolled through a few albums, showing Will pictures of Frank and Hazel; Percy and Annabeth; himself and Luke when he’d been asked to babysit once; Leo that one time he accidentally set his jacket on fire and didn’t notice for over a minute. At some point, Nico’s head fell onto Will’s shoulder as they scrolled through pictures. Piper surfing and Jason falling into the water. Hazel and him scrunching up their noses at the camera. Thalia somewhere in South America doing some wildlife preservation something. Reyna sitting outside a cafe drinking a latte and glaring at people that passed by on the street.

Nico’s eyes were starting to fall closed when he finally put his phone away, having exhausted his gallery of all pictures of his friends. Will had started talking, something about a couple of the friends he’d had in high school, and Nico had tried to listen, he really had, but his eyes had slipped closed and he’d fallen asleep.

 

He woke up on the floor, pillow under his head and comforter off the guest bed wrapped around him, and he had no recollection of how he’d gotten there.

The floor around him was littered with pillows and blankets, and there were burnt out candles on the tables and TV stand. He sat up and blinked a few times, and then Will and Bianca were there in front of him. He rubbed at his eyes and looked at them again, their smiles unmistakably  _ real. _

“Happy birthday!” Bianca shouted at him, and held out a small plate with one of the cannoli he’d made yesterday.

Will was beaming at him, obviously proud of himself, and Nico couldn’t help but grin back.

 

The snowstorm kept schools closed for the next two days, which meant that Nico stayed over night after night. The power had returned the morning after Nico’s birthday, and while Will had taken the opportunity to shower after their quick birthday celebration, Nico had taken advantage of the newly recovered cell signal to call Hazel. He had her pick him up and take him to get his car, which he’d been planning on picking up the night before, until the snow hit. 

When he got his car, Nico returned to his own home, showered, changed his clothes, and grabbed some more clean clothes to keep at Will’s. 

He went back to the Solace household and was immediately greeted with Bianca telling him that her school had already been closed for the next day. Good thing he’d grabbed more clothes.

Bianca had insisted on playing video games, and then got angry at Will whenever he walked in front of the screen. He was trying to get ready for work, running back and forth between the kitchen and living room and his bedroom, and by the fourth or fifth time, Bianca had had enough, and gave up on the game.

When Will came over to say goodbye, he suggested, “Why don’t you do the homework you were supposed to do last night, so you don’t have to worry about it later?”

Bianca, still upset, huffed and crossed her arms. Nico just said, “Bye, Solace,” and kept playing the game that Bianca had abandoned. 

Will rolled his eyes and muttered something about having two children, and Nico shouted, “I heard that!” before Will walked out the door.

 

When he returned later that night, Will noticed first the tray of brownies cooling on the counter. Bianca’s bag was where it had been when he left, and a quick look around the corner showed that Nico and Bianca were still sitting on the floor playing video games, right where he’d left them. 

Will walked up and stood in front of the TV, arms crossed and with what he hoped was a stern look on his face. “Did you even do your homework like I said to?” he demanded.

Nico paused the game and looked up at him with _the_ _biggest shit-eating grin_ Will had _ever_ _seen_ and said, “Yeah, it’s in her backpack, all ready to go when school starts back up. You wanna check everything over, make sure it’s all right?”

They stared each other down for a little while. Will felt something swell up in his chest. Maybe his lung were filling with fluid and he was dying. Maybe it was something else that had to do with Nico smiling up at him like that.

Will rolled his eyes and turned back toward the kitchen, hearing Nico snicker before starting up the game again. 

“The brownies are probably cool by now if you want one,” Nico called to him.

Will sighed in frustration, but went over to the counter and cut himself a brownie.  _ Dammit _ if it wasn’t the best thing he’d eaten in days. Well, except maybe that cannoli he’d split with Nico the day before. But the brownie had  _ chocolate. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> look at me!! got this chapter out a lot earlier than i was expecting!! there's valentines day in this chapter so i hope you enjoy it just in time for valentine's day!!

Will had been given greater opportunities at work - chances to study under visiting surgeons, invitations to watch some of the more complicated surgeries, and even performing a few surgeries on his own. However, this meant that he was spending more and more time at the hospital and away from home; hours upon hours upon  _ hours. _ He was lucky to get any sleep at all at times like those. That is to say, Will didn't sleep at all that night.

He had dropped Bianca off at school one morning on his way to the hospital, anticipating that he would be home for dinner that night, only to get caught by one of his attendings who offered him a seat in the gallery of his next surgery. After the surgery, there was a call for an incoming trauma just as he was about to leave. Then, he was invited to assist on one of the surgeries that resulted from the trauma. Before Will knew it, the sun was starting to rise, and he’d been awake for at least twenty-four full hours.

He finally managed to get out the door, into his car, and drive most of the way home before the exhaustion hit. For a few moments, Will considered pulling over on the side of the road and taking a nap, but figured he would survive the last five minutes of the drive. His steering wheel probably wouldn’t make for a good pillow, anyway.

Will was mid-yawn when he walked through the door, catching Nico and Bianca in the entryway as they pulled on their coats and shoes. Nico looked surprised for a second before he raised an eyebrow, one corner of his lips quirking up in the tiniest of smiles. “Good morning, Sunshine.”

“Is it time for school already?” Will asked, barely able to keep his eyes open. “Alright, I’ll drive.”

“Uh, no you won’t,” Nico said. “You’re practically asleep standing up. Go to bed, I’ll take Bi to school.”

“But--”

Nico grabbed Will’s arm, not giving him a chance to take off his coat or shoes before pulling him out of the doorway and starting to march him down the hall. A giggling Bianca called after them, “Bye, Daddy!”

“I’ve got it all handled, Solace,” Nico told him, walking Will all the way to his bedroom and even opening the door for him. “We had breakfast, her lunch is packed, and I will make sure she is properly buckled into her carseat. Now,  _ sleep.” _

Will started into the room but paused, turning back to Nico and resting the side of his head against the doorway. His eyes were half-shut and he was too tired to form a full smile. “Thank you, Nico.” He walked the rest of the way into the room, shutting the door softly behind himself before shedding his coat and shoes. He stripped out of his scrubs, crawling into bed in only his underwear, too tired to find pajamas to throw on before falling asleep. 

Nico, after dropping Bianca off at school, returned to the Solace household where he left his backpack. He intended to pop in, grab his stuff, and head home, but upon considering the fact that Will could very easily sleep for a solid eight hours and  _ might _ not wake up in time to pick up Bianca, Nico decided to stay. 

He curled up on the couch with his laptop, putting his glasses on before opening up a new document for one of his assignments. He’d just started what he hoped would be his last semester of college, and one of his classes was requiring that he have an entire manuscript turned in at the end of the semester. Luckily he already had some ideas, so he wasn’t starting entirely from scratch. 

He worked for about three straight hours before he started to get hungry, but he chose to ignore the feeling in favor of the outline he was about halfway through. He wanted to get the outline finished, even if it was incredibly rough, before he took a lunch break to clear his head for a little while. 

By the time he did finally set his laptop aside, his stomach was growling and his head was starting to hurt. He hated walking around with his glasses on, but he knew that taking them off would just make his headache worse.

It was just after two o’clock when he had a small stack of chocolate chip pancakes made - probably  _ just _ too many for him to eat on his own. Nico plated a few of the pancakes and turned to take a seat at the table when he saw Will walking into the room, hiding a yawn behind his hand. Nico thought his heart skipped a beat at the sight of Will in a plain white undershirt and plaid pajama pants.

Nico cleared his throat and said, “Pancakes? I probably made enough for the both of us.”

This time when Will smiled at him, it was full-force. “Thanks.”

Once the two of them had their plates of pancakes with syrup, they sat down at the table across from each other.

“So, not that I mind you making me breakfast,” Will started as he cut into his pancakes, “but what are you still doing here? I would have thought you were going home after taking Bi to school.”

Nico shrugged, waiting to speak until after he’d swallowed his bite. “I was going to, but I left my backpack here. And then I figured that you might not wake up in time to pick Bi up, so I thought I’d hang around. I can...leave, if you want me to.” Nico felt his shoulders hunch up, shrinking in on himself as he waited for Will’s response.

But Will didn’t even seem to have heard him. He was staring down at his pancakes with wide eyes, and then looked up at Nico, practically awestruck. “Are these chocolate chip? They’re  _ delicious!” _

Nico felt himself relax, allowing a smile to creep onto his face. If this was how Will reacted to chocolate, Nico would have to bake more often.

 

* * *

 

Nico was starting to get a little stir-crazy, almost only leaving his apartment to go to Will’s and vice versa, or taking quick drives to Bianca’s school once or twice a day. He needed to  _ do  _ something that wasn’t sitting alone in a room with his laptop, and a simple trip to the grocery store didn’t seem like it would cut it.

Then, when he picked Bianca up from school, she wouldn’t stop talking about the movie that her friends had all seen. Instead of taking a left out of the school parking lot to go home, Nico turned right and drove them to the nearest movie theater. A two-hour movie should be a nice break for the both of them.

After the movie they stopped at the store so that Nico could pick up something for dinner - the surprise trip to the movies didn’t give him a chance to plan for a meal or set out out chicken to thaw. He bought an assortment of vegetables and a few unfrozen pieces of chicken, already picturing the stirfry he would make in his head.

He got to work on dinner as soon as they got home, and Bianca sat down at the table to work on her homework. It wasn’t long before Will walked through the door, and Bianca jumped out of her seat to hug him - she had a lot of pent-up energy after sitting all day.

“Hi, Daddy!” she exclaimed. “Nico took me to the movies today!”

“Really?” Will replied, hanging up his coat. “What movie did you see?”

Bianca bounced away from him, throwing her arms up enthusiastically as she announced, “Spiderman!”

Will gasped - Nico figured it was maybe half-genuine, half overdramatic for Bianca’s sake. “You saw Spiderman without me?” He took a single step toward her, which caused Bianca to squeal and run away into the living room. Nico watched with a smile as Will chased after her.

He went back to chopping up vegetables, listening to the pounding of footsteps throughout the house and the peels of laughter that sounded every few seconds. After a moment, Nico looked to his left to see Bianca in the hallway, peeking around the corner into the living room. Then he looked to the archway that connected the dining room to the living room and saw Will with his back pressed up against the wall, grinning at Nico and holding a finger to his lips. Nico caught himself smiling back for a second before ducking his head and returning to his chopping. 

The next thing he knew, Will was gone and Bianca was running down the hall, straight towards him. She was giggling up a storm as she ran behind him and used him as a shield, forcing Nico to set the knife he was using down in caution.

As soon as Will stepped into the kitchen, Bianca exclaimed, “It was Nico’s idea!”

Nico’s eyes snapped up to meet Will’s. He had just a second to think before Will lunged at him. Nico stepped around Bianca and tried to turn the corner around the island, but his socks slipped on the tile floor, giving Will just enough time to catch up. He wrapped a hand around Nico’s wrist, pulling him close until they were nearly chest to chest. He grinned down at Nico victoriously before his expression dropped at the sight of Nico laughing out loud, and he stared down at him in awe.

Nico searched the room for Bianca, who had run to the other side of the kitchen. “She’s the one that chose the movie!” Nico said around his laughter, pointing toward Bianca.

Will couldn’t care less about the movie. With Nico so close, Will could finally make out the difference between the dark brown of Nico’s iris and the black of his pupil, and even little flecks of copper mixed in. He could feel the puffs of air from Nico’s laughter on his cheek. He could swoop down - maybe an inch, maybe two - and press his lips to Nico’s without a second thought. He wondered if Nico’s lips tasted sweeter than chocolate chip pancakes.

“Solace?” Nico said, just above a whisper, and Will dropped his wrist like it had burned him. 

Will took a couple of steps back. “Um--”

“Daddy!” Bianca called, and Will’s attention snapped toward her. She giggled and took off toward the living room once more, and Will hurried after her, desperate to run away from whatever he had been thinking.

Nico stood frozen to the spot as he processed what had just happened. Had he imagined the look in Will’s eyes? Did Will want to kiss him just as much as Nico had wanted to do the same? How long would Nico be able to handle these untouched emotions between them before he snapped?

 

* * *

 

Bianca ran into the kitchen with a shoebox in her hands, shoving it into Will’s hands as soon as she saw him. “Daddy, can you cut a hole in the top of this like  _ that?” _ She traced a finger across the lid, indicating where she wanted the slice. 

“What’s this for, Bi?” Will asked, setting the box on the island.

“It’s Valentine’s Day!” Bianca told him. “I need a box to keep all my valentines in.”

Will opened one of the drawers in the island and pulled out a pair of scissors, using them to cut a slit in the box’s lid, just big enough to slide a card stock valentine inside. “Are you going to decorate this?”

She nodded. “We’re gonna do that in class before we hand out valentines.”

Will frowned. “Do you have valentines to hand out?”

“Yeah, Nico bought them for me. They’re pink, and they have princesses on them!”

Will smiled, though it was a little sad. He was happy to see his daughter so excited, but he hated feeling like he was missing out on Bianca’s life. And...his own, in a way. Valentine’s Day was supposed to be spent with the person you love, but Will didn’t have anyone.

As if to remind Will of just how single he was, Nico walked into the room, still enough to take Will’s breath away despite the fact that he had just rolled out of bed. 

“Nico, can you make pancakes for breakfast?” Bianca asked when she saw him. “And can you make them heart-shaped for Valentine’s Day?”

Nico paused, looking like he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t, his cheeks growing pink as he said, “Is that today?” Bianca nodded. “Oh. Uh, Solace, are you sticking around for pancakes?” Nico stepped toward the pantry to search for ingredients.

Will checked the time on the microwave and decided, “Yeah, I can stay a little while longer.” He started up a pot of coffee while Nico gathered ingredients for pancakes.

Bianca watched as Nico started making the batter. “Do you think I’m gonna have a Valentine?”

“You’ll get a card from everyone in your class,” Will answered as he pulled two mugs down from the cabinet.

“No, a  _ Valentine,”  _ she said again, though Will still didn’t seem to understand. “Nico, do you have a Valentine?”

“Nope,” he answered, moving to pour the batter into a pan on the stove.

“Will you be my Valentine?” Bianca asked, standing directly next to him as he tried to shape the batter into a heart. 

“I  _ would,” _ Nico started, grinning down at her, “but I think that would make Daddy jealous.”

Will flinched as he tried pouring coffee into the mugs, accidentally knocking one of the mugs over and spilling coffee onto the counter. He kept his head ducked as he cleaned up the mess to keep Nico from noticing the blush rising on his cheeks.

Bianca sighed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. You should be Daddy’s Valentine, Nico!”

Will hit his head on the counter when he tried to stand up to fast. Nico's hand slipped as he tried to flip a pancake, tossing it out of the pan and forcing his fingers against the hot metal. He hissed as he pulled his hand back, biting his tongue to keep himself from swearing in pain.

Will was there in a second, gently taking Nico’s hand in his own to assess the damage. “Are you alright?” he asked, and Nico had to hold himself back from saying that he felt better already.

“I’m good,” Nico said instead, and stepped over to the sink to run his hand under cold water for a moment. After that, he went back to making pancakes, deciding to add chocolate chips to Will’s at the last second.

 

* * *

 

When Nico had taken Bianca out to buy valentine’s cards for her classmates, she’d brought up that Will’s birthday was about two weeks away, and the date had been stuck in Nico’s head ever since. Was he supposed to get something for Will? Would that be weird, especially since Will hadn’t been the one to share his birthday? What would Nico even get him, anyway?

He knew exactly what to get him, actually. He looked up a recipe one night when he was supposed to be working on his manuscript and gathered all of the necessary ingredients to bake a practice cake. He wasn’t about to give Will a cake that Nico hadn’t even  _ tasted _ before.

Nico generally prided himself on his cooking and baking skills, but he would admit that this cake in particular was a test of his abilities. He felt the most overwhelmed, however, when both of his hands were occupied mixing two different things, and his phone started ringing across the kitchen. 

“Hazel!” he called out, hoping that his sister was somewhere in the apartment where she would hear him.

“What?” she shouted back.

“Come answer my phone for me.”

He could practically hear the eye roll from across the apartment, but soon his phone stopped ringing, and Hazel was answering it with a, “Hey, Annabeth.”

“Put it on speaker for me,” Nico requested.

“Nico, I haven’t heard from you since the New Year’s party,” Annabeth said, voice distorted by the phone’s speaker. “I was expecting an update.”

“I didn’t get fired,” he said, struggling to add more ingredients to one of the mixing bowls while stirring them both constantly. Why hadn’t he brought out the electric mixer? “Was that all?”

“You’re not going to tell me what happened?” Annabeth pressed.

“I was  _ here _ and I don’t even know what happened,” Hazel said as she made herself comfortable, sitting on top of the island.

Nico looked over his shoulder and glared at his sister. “If you’re just going to sit there, then make yourself useful and grab the electric mixer for me. And  _ no, _ Annabeth, I have nothing else to say.”

“Hazel, what do you mean you were  _ there? _ Did he show up at your place?” Annabeth asked.

“I invited him over,” Hazel answered. She dragged the big electric mixer out from one of the cabinets and brought it over to Nico, setting it on the counter and plugging it in. “And it’s a good thing I did, because I doubt Nico would have ever gotten out of bed if I hadn’t.”

Nico rolled his eyes. “Sure, and all those cookies just  _ magically  _ appeared that morning.”

“You’ve been over there every day, then?” Annabeth asked, getting them back on track.

“Just about every day, yeah. Every day that Will has to work, at least,” Nico answered.

“So that means you were there on Valentine’s Day.” Nico could hear the smirk in her voice. “Does that mean you finally confessed your love for him?”

_ “No, _ I did  _ not _ confess my love for him, because I’m  _ not _ in love with him,” Nico told her, though as soon as he said the words, they felt like a lie. They weren’t even together, Nico couldn’t be  _ in love _ with him!

“Then what’s with all the baking?” Hazel asked. “Are you going to make him a cake that says  _ do you like me? Check yes or no _ on it?”

“I’m not a child, Hazel. I  _ am _ making a cake, and  _ yes,  _ it’s for Will, but  _ only _ because it’s his birthday next week and I just so happen to know that he likes chocolate.”

“Oh my god,” Annabeth said. “You know, normal people just ask the guy out, right?”

“I’m not  _ trying  _ to--”

“This is some kind of weird courting or something, isn’t it?” Hazel teased. “You’re trying to butter him up so that he’ll ask  _ you _ out!”

“You’re absolutely right, Hazel,” Annabeth said. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that myself.”

“You’re even using a recipe! You  _ never _ use recipes,” Hazel said. “That means this is something you’ve never made before! Oh my god, when the two of you get married, he’s going to get  _ so fat _ from all of your baking.”

“We’re not getting _married!”_ Nico nearly shouted. “We’re not even dating yet!”  
_“Yet?”_ Annabeth repeated in a voice about two octaves higher than her habitual pitch.

“Oh my god,  _ I was joking!” _ Hazel screeched.  _ “You’re actually courting him!” _

Abandoning his cake batter, Nico leaned his elbows against the counter and buried his face in his hands. “I hate both of you so much, oh my god.”

“Don’t lie, Nico,” Annabeth said. “You love us.”

“But you love Will more!” Hazel cried, almost knocking herself over with the force of her own laughter.

Nico left the kitchen, taking his phone with him and ending the call.

He hid in his room for about twenty minutes before venturing back out to finish up the cake. The consistency of the batter was essentially ruined after being neglected for so long, and it resulted in an oddly textured cake. However, it tasted better than Nico expected, so he bookmarked the recipe to use again later. Then, he went online to search for anything that might make the cake even better - nicer, more expensive chocolate, in particular. 

Nico didn’t want to risk waiting until the last second to make Will’s birthday cake, just in case he wasn’t invited over on the actual day. So, three days before Will’s birthday, Nico brought over all the supplies he needed and had Bianca help him bake.

He’d timed everything perfectly: the batter was poured into the cake pan just before Will texted to let Nico know that he was on his way home, which meant that Nico would be taking the finished cake out of the oven just as Will was walking through the door.

The look on Will’s face when he saw the cake was  _ priceless. _ It was like he was experiencing heaven on earth just from the sight and smell of so much chocolate. “What is  _ that?” _ he asked in an awe-filled voice. 

Nico tried to rein in his proud smile. “A chocolate lava cake.”

“But...why?”

“Bianca told me your birthday’s coming up,” Nico answered simply, shrugging.

As if she’d heard her name, Bianca came running into the room, immediately attaching herself to her father’s legs. “Happy birthday, Daddy! We made you a cake!”

“I see that,” Will replied, crouching down to give her a proper hug. “It looks delicious, thank you.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead before straightening up. 

“Nico did more than me, he gets a kiss, too!” Bianca insisted.

Will glanced toward Nico as if to ask permission - Nico was sure that his cheeks had developed a noticeable red tint, but he didn’t say  _ no. _ Will stepped closer, set his hands on Nico’s arms just below his shoulders, and pressed a kiss into the hair that fell over Nico’s forehead. “Thank you, Nico,” he said softly, his smile appearing so much brighter at such a short distance, before stepping away.

 

With all of his focus on the cake, Nico hadn’t had time to whip up an equally impressive dinner, so he settled for spaghetti with broccoli instead. A short while after they had finished their dinner, the cake was served - after Nico had reheated it to make sure the lava was still melted, of course. The cake was eaten, paired with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and once they’d all finished their desserts, Bianca was sent off to get ready for bed. Nico was sure that so much chocolate wouldn’t help her to fall asleep, but he had other things to focus on for the time being.

Other things like the little smudge of chocolate lava he could feel on his lower lip, Will standing beside him, and the dishes they were washing.

“You don’t have to do the dishes,” Will told him for probably the third time. “You cooked  _ and _ baked, I can handle the dishes.”

Nico reached past him, intentionally brushing his arm against Will’s stomach as he did so, and grabbed a dish towel. “I’ll wash, you dry.”

Will huffed. “But--”

“You’re not washing dishes on your birthday, Solace,” Nico insisted, turning to face him fully, and tried not to smirk when he saw Will’s eye catch on the chocolate on his lip.

“It’s not...uh--” His eyes flickered back up to Nico’s before sinking down to his lips once again. “You... There’s--” Will tapped his own lip.

“What?” Nico asked. “Is there something on my face?”

“You’ve got chocolate…” Will tried again.

Nico kept his eyes locked on Will’s as he swept his tongue along his lip, carefully avoiding the spot where he knew the chocolate was. “Did I get it?”

He could have sworn he heard Will  _ whine. _ Will took a single step closer, raising his hand up. “Let me get it.” His fingers brushed against Nico’s cheek as his hand moved to cup Nico’s jaw, his thumb poised to wipe the chocolate away. Will’s eyes met Nico’s, flickering back and forth to his lips. Will seemed to be leaning in, almost unknowingly, and Nico let his own gaze drop to Will’s mouth for just a second, which seemed to be invitation enough for Will to finally push forward. He pressed his lips to Nico’s, his tongue swiping out to gather up the chocolate from Nico’s lip, and then relaxing into the kiss for just a  _ second-- _

Will threw himself back, so quickly, so forcefully, that he backed straight into the counter, banging his head back against the cabinet behind him. “I’m sorry!” he exclaimed. One of his hands came up to rub at the back of his head while the other gripped the counter so hard that his knuckles turned white. “Shit,  _ ow! _ I’m sorry, I’m  _ so _ sorry!”

Nico ducked his head to hide his smile before he realized that he didn’t need to. He looked up to meet Will’s gaze, smiling brightly up at him. “Will,” he said, and saw Will’s eyes widen at the sound of his first name.  _ “Sunshine, _ you have nothing to be sorry for.” His lips felt like they were tingling from the kiss. Had he actually  _ courted  _ Will with a chocolate cake? He couldn’t let Hazel find out about this, he’d never hear the end of it.

“I-- I don’t know why I--”

“Maybe because you  _ wanted to?” _ Nico offered. He stepped forward, planting his feet in between Will’s, and brought his hands up to frame Will’s face. It didn’t seem like Will was breathing, like he was holding his breath in anticipation for what Nico might say next.  _ “I _ wanted you to, if that helps.”

“You did?” Will whispered.

“Only for the last… I dunno, three months?” Nico said, and couldn’t stop a laugh from escaping with his words. He was  _ so happy, _ and this entire situation was  _ so ridiculous. _

“Three months?” Will repeated, and his entire body relaxed when he exhaled. His forehead dropped to rest against Nico’s, and he wrapped his arms loosely around Nico’s waist. “Try six.”

“We’ve only known each other for six months,” Nico pointed out. 

“I  _ know,” _ Will whined.

“We’re hopeless,” Nico said with another laugh. “I guess we have a lot of time to make up for, then. Can I kiss you?”

“I seriously thought you would  _ never _ ask,” Will told him before tightening his hold on Nico’s waist and drawing him in for a kiss.

They stayed like that, pressed against each other until they were out of breath, and Will knocked his forehead gently against Nico’s to break the kiss.

“Stay?” he whispered.

Nico felt like his head was in a cloud, his thoughts foggy and still focused solely on the heat of Will’s hands on his waist, the feeling of Will’s lips moving against his own, the dizziness from a lack of air. “Huh?”

Will smiled, rolling his forehead against Nico’s so that their noses bumped into each other. “Will you stay here with me?”

“Tonight?” Nico asked. “Or, like, forever?”

“Either one is fine,” Will replied.

It shouldn’t have been so difficult to form a coherent thought, but his proximity to Will was intoxicating. “I can’t, tonight. I told Hazel I would be home.”

Will sighed, and Nico could see the disappointment in his eyes. “Alright. That means  _ forever _ is still on the table though, right?”

Nico groaned and fell forward, hiding his face in the side of Will’s neck. Will laughed as he tightened his hold on Nico. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

 

Nico had a hell of a time trying to pack up all of his baking supplies to take back to his apartment - it didn’t help that Will couldn’t seem to go five minutes without kissing him. He almost changed his mind about leaving when Will pressed him up against the door and kissed him within an inch of his life, but Nico managed to stand firm in his decision. 

“I’ll be back soon, Will,” Nico reminded him.

“You should come back in, like, an hour,” Will said before pressing their lips together once again.

Nico pushed him back gently and held him at an arm’s length, smiling as he said, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Will pouted. “Alright, fine, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Nico opened the door and took his baking supplies outside with him, starting out toward his car. “Text me when you get home!” Will called after him.

“Goodnight, Will,” Nico called back.

He pulled out of the driveway and saw that Will didn’t close the front door until Nico had started to drive away. 

Nico couldn’t stop smiling the entire drive back home, even as he lugged his baking supplies up the stairs and into his apartment. It didn’t even falter even as Hazel said, “What’s got you all smiley?”

He ignored her as he took the baking supplies into the kitchen, dropping them off on the counter and shooting a quick  _ I’m home _ text to Will before rejoining his sister in the living room. He sat down on the couch beside her, and Hazel paused the show she’d been watching. “No, seriously. You’re starting to creep me out, I don’t think I’ve  _ ever _ seen you smile this much.” Nico opened his mouth, about to respond, but Hazel beat him to it. “Oh! It’s about Will, isn’t it? The courting’s going well, I take it?”

“I’m not  _ courting _ him,” Nico said with a roll of his eyes. His cheeks were starting to hurt - maybe if he smiled more often it wouldn’t hurt so much. 

“Oh my god, just tell me,  _ please,” _ Hazel begged. 

“He kissed me.”

Hazel gasped.

“And then he apologized a few times,” Nico continued. “And then he kissed me a bunch more times.”

“Oh my god, you actually  _ courted  _ him. Your courting actually  _ worked!” _

Nico ducked his head. “Yeah, I guess it did--” His head snapped up as he realized what he was saying, his smile finally falling away in favor of an embarrassed blush. “Uh, I mean--”

“You admitted it!” Hazel screeched. “Oh my god, what are you even  _ doing  _ here?”

Nico frowned. “I live here.”

“You two admitted your love for each other--”

“We did  _ not, _ we just kissed, there were  _ no _ declarations of love!”

“--and you came back  _ here _ instead of spending the night with him? Why on  _ earth _ would you come back?”

“I don’t know what you’re trying to get at,” Nico said, his blush now at full force and his gaze averted. When Hazel didn’t say anything, Nico glanced up to see that she was giving him a  _ look. _ An  _ I know you know, just say it already and get it over with _ look. Nico sighed and started down at his hands in his lap. “I didn’t want you to think the cake got me laid.”

“Would it have?” she asked without a second of hesitation.

_ “Hazel!” _

_ “Would it have?” _

Nico crossed his arms and slouched back against the couch, looking like a mirror image of his fifteen-year-old self. “Maybe.”

“He asked you to stay over, didn’t he?”

Nico’s shoulders hunched up self-consciously.  _ “Maybe.” _

“Oh my  _ god, _ what’s the matter with you?” Hazel shouted, grabbing a pillow from beside herself and whacking Nico in the chest with it. “What happened? Tell me  _ everything.” _

“He just asked me to stay over!” Nico shouted back as he tried to rip the pillow out of her hands. “He… He asked if me staying  _ forever _ was on the table.”

_ “Oh my god!” _ she screeched, almost at a frequency that only dogs could hear. “Pack a bag, I’m kicking you out. You live with Will now.”

“Hazel--”

“Why do you always have to be so difficult? If that happened between me and Frank, you  _ know _ I would have told you everything without even being asked!” She gasped. “Oh, Frank would  _ love  _ to hear about this, I’m calling him right now.”

“Hazel,  _ no--” _

“You’re right, he’s probably sleeping, or training, or...whatever they do at West Point. I’ll call Annabeth instead.”

“Don’t you  _ dare--” _

“It’s already ringing!”

 

_ FROM: Will; I don’t want to go to sleep. I feel like I’ll wake up in the morning and this whole day will have been a dream. _

_ TO: Will; when i kiss you tomorrow, youll know it wasnt a dream. go to sleep, sunshine. _

 

* * *

 

Will called Nico the next day during his lunch break as he made his way to Lou Ellen’s room. She hadn’t been there for about the last month, but she had a follow-up surgery scheduled for later that day. She couldn’t eat lunch with him, but Will figured she would enjoy the update. 

Nico picked up the phone and said in his adorably sleepy voice, “Good morning, Sunshine.”

Will couldn’t keep the bright smile off his face. “Actually, it’s about twelve-thirty.”

“Mhm,” Nico replied. “What’s up, babe?”

Will’s pulse  _ skyrocketed. _ He had to take a few deep breaths before he said, “Um. I, uh. Can you pick Bianca up from school?”

“Of course. Was that all you wanted?”

He hesitated. How much would he have the courage to say? “I can’t wait to see you later,” Will said in a voice close to a whisper, like he didn’t want anyone to overhear.

“Me too,” Nico said, and Will could hear the smile in his voice. “Get back to work, Will.”

“Okay, sure.” 

Will felt like his face was on fire as he walked into Lou’s room.

“Hey, Solace, what’s with the sunburn?” Lou asked immediately upon seeing him.

Will took a seat in his usual chair, popping open the salad he’d bought in the cafeteria as he internally debated whether he should try to play it cool or not. He knew his composure wouldn’t last. “I kissed Nico last night.”

“Oh! No shit?” Lou Ellen said. “That’s wild, man, nice job.”

Will frowned with a bite of salad halfway to his mouth. “Why are you talking like that?”

Lou shrugged. “I dunno, thought I’d try it out. Not good?”

“Not good.”

She hummed. “Alright, let me take that again. Set me up.”

“Um. I, uh, I kissed Nico last night?”

_ “Oh my god!” _ Lou shrieked, startling Will so much that he nearly dropped his salad. “That’s  _ amazing!  _ I’m so happy for you! You have to tell me  _ everything!”  _ Will winced, and Lou said in her normal voice, “That one felt too far on the other end of the spectrum. Why don’t you talk, since you’re the one with stuff to share.”

“What’s the matter with you? Did you hit your head since the last time I saw you?”

“No, I’m just  _ super _ bored. I can’t go anywhere, I can’t even  _ eat _ anything. This is the most entertainment I’ve had all day. So, what? You’ve been bright red since you kissed Nico last night? Get talking.”

Will shook his head. “No, I just called him. He called me  _ babe. _ I thought my heart was going to explode.”

“You’ll be dead by the end of this week, if you keep that up,” Lou told him. 

“Hopefully I’ll get used to it,” Will replied offhandedly, and then seemed to realize what he said, and beamed. “Could you imagine? I might get  _ used _ to him calling me  _ babe!” _

Lou rolled her eyes and tipped her head back to rest against her pillows, flinging an arm over her eyes dramatically. “Never mind, this conversation has bored me. I need new entertainment.”

Will paused. “Seriously, are you taking acting classes or something? What’s going on here?”

 

When Will got home that night, Nico greeted him in the kitchen with a kiss. Will thought he might melt, but his heart nearly stopped when Nico said, “I have a concern.”

“What is it?” Will asked cautiously.

Nico bit his lip and started fiddling with a ring around one of his fingers - he’d started wearing it after the start of the new year, and Will wondered if it had been a Christmas present. “How are we going to break this to Bianca?”

Will’s heart restarted as he felt all of the tension flood out of his muscles. “Oh! You had me worried for a second there, Darling.” The nickname had slipped out unintentionally, but Will grinned at the blush that developed on Nico’s cheeks. “I’ll take care of that.” He pressed a kiss to Nico’s cheek before stepping around him and heading into the living room.

Nico had left Bianca watching TV on the couch, so Will walked up to her and asked, “Bi, can I pause the TV for a second?” When Bianca nodded, Will paused her show and sat down on the coffee table in front of her. “Can I tell you a secret?”

“You have secrets?” Bianca asked, eyes widening in surprise.

“Just one. You know how someone in your class might have a crush on someone else?”

She nodded. “Mary told me she has a crush on Jimmy because he shared his french fries with her once.”

Will smiled. “Well, my secret is that I have a crush on Nico.” He looked up and met Nico’s eyes from where he was leaning against the archway leading into the living room.

“You do?” Bianca asked.

“Yep. And I think Nico has a crush on me, too. I wanted to tell you before I told Nico so that you won’t get grossed out when we start doing grown-up stuff.”

“What kind of grown-up stuff?”

Will shrugged. “You know, like, hugging and kissing.”

“Gross!” Bianca said and scrunched up her nose. Then she said, “But...I hug people too, and I’m not a grown-up.”

“That’s because you’re very mature for a six-year-old,” Will told her. “But that doesn’t mean you’re allowed to kiss people, alright? No kissing until you’re an adult in the eyes of the law.”

Although she clearly didn’t understand what Will meant, Bianca said, “Okay Daddy.”

“Great!” Will said, and rose to his feet. “You can go back to your show now, and I’m gonna go tell Nico that I like him.”

He walked around the couch and back towards a pleasantly surprised Nico, who pulled Will back into the kitchen with him. “That went a lot better than I was expecting it would go.”

“See? Nothing to worry about,” Will told him, darting forward for a quick kiss. “Now, can I help you with dinner? Or set the table?”

“Oh, uh, I put a casserole in the oven. It should be done in, like, twenty minutes.”

Will beamed down at him. “You’re amazing, you know that?”

“Why? Just because I’m making dinner?” Nico asked with a laugh.

“No, you just are.”

 

* * *

 

Each night since their first kiss, Nico went home just as Will was starting to get tired. Will always asked him to stay, but Nico kept turning him down by saying, “It’s not your birthday yet.” Not because he had anything planned, but because he had  _ nothing _ planned. How was he supposed to know that baking Will a cake would be enough to get them together? And how could he throw something together in three days that could top  _ that? _

It was the night before Will’s twenty-ninth birthday, and the three of them had ended the day with a couple of movies. At the end of the first, Bianca was sent off to bed by Will as Nico refilled the popcorn bowl, and soon the two were meeting back on the couch for a less kid-friendly movie - hopefully something that would keep their interest a little better.

Nico was curled up against Will’s side, one of Will’s arms wrapped around him, the popcorn bowl resting somewhere between their laps. Nico could feel as Will started to fall asleep beside him when they were only about halfway through the movie, so he straightened up from his slouch and watched as Will’s eyes blinked open. Nico reached up, brushing his fingers against Will’s jaw and turning his head until Will was facing him. He was clearly fighting to keep his eyes open.

“You’re falling asleep,” Nico told him.

“No, I’m not,” Will argued.

“Will--”

“I’m not falling asleep,” Will insisted, even as his eyes slid shut. He leaned forward, pressing his forehead to Nico’s. “I don’t wanna fall asleep, because if I do, then you’ll leave. I don’t want you to leave.”

Nico nearly melted at his words. He sighed, his fingers starting to stroke along Will’s jawline. “Well, it’s still not your birthday  _ yet, _ but I guess I can stay over tonight.”

Will’s eyes cracked open as his lips curved into a smile. “Really?” He slumped against Nico with a sigh, relaxing fully against him. “Thank god, I’m  _ so tired.” _

Nico tried to shove Will’s weight off of him, but Will had gone completely limp. “Well I’m not sleeping on this couch ever again, so you had better get up and lead the way, Sunshine.”

Will huffed before sitting back up, slowly making his way to a standing position and stretching his arms over his head. Nico shut the TV off before getting up and walking around Will toward the bathroom to brush his teeth, Will joining him a moment later. 

After they’d brushed their teeth, Will grabbed Nico’s hand and intertwined their fingers, pulling him towards Will’s bedroom. As soon as Nico stepped over the threshold, he froze. He’d never made it a habit to spend the night with the guys he’d been seeing, and he’d certainly never slept over after a one night stand. What if Will snored, and it kept Nico awake all night? What if Nico was too clingy in his sleep, and it pissed Will off? Were they jumping into bed together too soon? He knew that phrase meant  _ sex _ and not  _ sleeping, _ which was all they would be doing, but did it still apply?

“Nico?” Will was already pulling back the comforter and getting ready to crawl into bed when he looked up and saw that Nico hadn’t moved.

“I don’t have any pajamas,” Nico blurted, like that would be a good enough excuse to not spend the night.

Will pointed toward the dresser beside Nico. “You can borrow some sweatpants, third drawer down.”

Nico moved slowly, hoping to keep his anxiety from being on full display, and he grabbed a pair of sweatpants at random. He turned back around and saw Will sitting up on the bed, looking at him with something between a frown and a pout. 

“Are you alright?” Will asked. “Do you...not want to sleep over?”

“I do,” Nico answered immediately. “I just… I’m...nervous, I guess.”

Will appeared to relax. “I’m sure if I weren’t so tired, I’d be just as nervous. Why don’t you go change, and when you come back, we can just lay here and talk until we fall asleep?”

Nico nodded and turned to leave, jumping back into the bathroom to change before returning to Will’s room in less than a minute. He slipped into bed beside Will, who immediately wrapped an arm around Nico’s waist and pulled him in for a kiss. In a second, all of Nico’s worries left him, and he relaxed into Will’s hold, throwing an arm over Will’s shoulders as Will tucked his head under Nico’s chin. 

“What d’you wanna talk about?” Will asked, his voice taking on a Southern twang in his tired state.

“Nothing,” Nico answered. “I’m okay now. Goodnight, Sunshine.”

“G’night, Darlin’,” Will replied, and in seconds his breathing had evened out as he fell asleep.

 

Nico surprised himself by waking up before Will, but he was glad to have the chance to see Will’s sleeping form beside him. With the sunlight beaming in through a crack in the curtains, shining directly over Will and into Nico’s eyes - that’s probably what woke him up, actually - Will looked absolutely beautiful. 

Nico reached up to run his fingers through Will’s glowing, golden curls, and Will leaned into the touch like a cat. His eyes opened slowly, blinking a few times before he registered Nico in front of him and grinned. 

“Good morning, Sunshine,” Nico whispered, and Will pressed forward for a kiss.

“I love it when you call me Sunshine,” Will told him.

“I thought you might. Happy birthday, Sunshine.”

Will captured Nico’s lips in another kiss, wrapping his arms around him and pulling him as close as he possibly could. “Best birthday ever,” Will mumbled against Nico’s lips.

“We just woke up,” Nico pointed out.

“I know,” Will said, reaching out for one more kiss. “I could get used to waking up like this.”

“I couldn’t,” Nico said, and Will leaned back from him with an affronted look. Nico followed after him, curling up against his chest, and said, “It’s  _ way  _ too early. Let’s go back to sleep for a couple more hours, and then maybe I could get used to it.”

Will huffed, wrapping an arm around Nico’s back, and smoothed his hand up and down Nico’s spine. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

“Oh yeah?” Nico asked. “And why’s that?”

“I might’ve had to break up with you for a trick like that.”

Nico peeked up at him. “So there’s something here to break up?”

Will hesitated. “If that’s okay with you?”

Nico smiled and relaxed back into Will’s chest with a contented sigh. “Of course it is.”

 

* * *

 

Will soon learned that he loved to listen to Nico talk. It didn’t matter what it was about - Will could still listen for  _ hours. _ He also realized early on that he couldn’t stand too close in order to protect himself from Nico’s flying hands, so he tended to watch and listen from just out of arm’s reach as Nico shared stories about his friends or ideas for his writing assignments.

He was leaning against he island as he watched Nico cook - he was forbidden from helping after burning the chicken Nico had left him to look over about a week before - and had gotten lost in Nico’s melodic voice and fluid movements through the kitchen. Will was pretty sure that Nico was telling a story about his cousin Jason’s terrible cooking, but Will would admit that he’d zoned out for a moment, just letting Nico’s voice wash over him.

He was brought back to the present when Nico said, “Babe, can you get the paprika for me?” 

Will walked over to the cabinet and took out the paprika. He set it in Nico’s awaiting hand as he pressed a kiss to Nico’s cheek, and then stepped away before Nico could restart his dangerous gesticulations. 

_ “Grazie,”  _ Nico said.  _ “Ora, dov’ero?” _

“Huh?” Will said, figuring he just hadn’t heard Nico correctly.

Nico glanced at him over his shoulder with a smile and spoke again, though it was just as incomprehensible as the last thing Will heard. He frowned, and Nico rolled his eyes. 

He stepped away from the stove for a second, walking up to the island and reaching over to grab one of Will’s hands. Nico pressed a kiss to Will’s knuckles and said,  _ “Il mio sole, tesoro--” _

“I have no idea what you’re saying,” Will cut in, and Nico’s smile fell away, replaced by a forceful blush and look of embarrassment. 

Nico returned to his cooking. “Um. Sorry, I didn’t mean to-- I  _ meant _ to say--”

“No, wait,” Will said, stepping around the island and stopping at Nico’s side. He set a gentle hand on the small of Nico’s back. “What were you saying? Was that Spanish or something, because it  _ definitely _ wasn’t English.”

“Italian,” Nico replied, though he kept his head ducked and his eyes trained on the food he was cooking. “I, uh. I was born in Italy. English is my second language.”

“Oh, wow. That’s--”

“Embarrassing, I know.”

“--really hot.”

Nico’s head snapped up. “What?”

Will grinned. “I said I think that’s  _ really hot.  _ The  _ speaking Italian _ part, not necessarily the  _ living in Italy _ part, not that that’s not cool--”

“You don’t think it’s embarrassing?” Nico whispered, peeking up at Will, and then blurted, “I speak French and Spanish, too. Not fluently, but they’re close enough to Italian that I picked it up pretty easily.”

Will’s cocky grin fell away to a look of genuine surprise. “That’s amazing! I don’t think I’ve ever met someone that speaks more than two languages, and now I’m… I’m seeing someone who speaks  _ four!” _

“Boyfriend,” Nico mumbled, causing Will to lean in with a hum. Nico hesitated before saying louder, “Your  _ boyfriend _ speaks four languages.”

Will felt his entire body heat up at Nico’s words as a bright, beaming smile bloomed on his face. He moved to stand behind Nico, wrapping his arms around his waist and pressing a kiss to his cheek before he set his chin on Nico’s shoulder. “Oh? Boyfriend, huh?”

Nico tensed in his arms. “Yeah. That’s what we are, right? Boyfriends?”

“I’d love that,” Will whispered into the side of Nico’s neck. He felt Nico relax and return to his cooking, but Will didn’t let him go. “I have a boyfriend who speaks  _ four languages. _ Wait, what were you saying earlier?”

“Hmm?” Will could see color rising on Nico’s neck and up to his cheek.

“You were speaking Italian, don’t tell me you forgot already,” Will teased. “You said something like,  _ my soul,  _ and...Tesla?”

Nico snorted, and turned in Will’s arms to face him as he spoke. “I said,  _ il mio sol, tesoro. _ My sun, and my darling.”

“Aw, babe, you’re cheesy in Italian.”

“What, you can call me darling in your first language, but I can’t call  _ you _ darling in  _ mine?” _ Nico asked with a huff.  _ “Darling _ is only the… the  _ implication _ of the translation! The direct translation is closer to  _ treasure, _ anyway!”

Will dipped down to press his forehead to Nico’s. “You think I’m your treasure?”

“I--” Nico couldn’t meet Will’s eyes. “I guess.”

Will pressed forward for a kiss, reaching one hand up to brush a delicate thumb across Nico’s cheek. “That’s adorable,” Will said. “And you’re very cute when you’re angry.”

Nico rolled his eyes and turned back toward the stove. “Whatever.”

“You’re my treasure, too,” Will told him before pressing a kiss to his cheek, then stepped back to lean against the counter once more in preparation for an encore of Nico’s wildly gesticulated stories.

 

* * *

 

Nico had no idea what was supposed to happen at a parent-teacher conference. Will had asked him to take Bianca up to the school and promised to meet them there, but by the time they’d arrived at the school, Nico still hadn’t gotten a text from Will saying that he’d left the hospital. 

Bianca led Nico toward her classroom, stopping at a check-in table at the start of the first grade hallway. Bianca greeted the woman at the table.

“Hello, Bianca,” the woman replied, and then smiled up at Nico. “And you must be Doctor Solace! It’s great to finally meet you.” She marked something on a sheet in front of her, probably checking them in.

“Oh, uh, no, I’m not--” Nico stuttered, and cleared his throat before trying again. “He’s supposed to meet us here, but he hasn’t gotten off work yet.”

“Sorry, you must be his husband, then! I’m Bianca’s art teacher, and last week she made this  _ adorable _ drawing of the three of you. Congratulations on your wedding, by the way!”

“Um. Thank you,” Nico said quickly, and led Bianca past the table. Once they were a considerable distance down the hall, Nico crouched down in front of her and asked, “Bianca, did you tell people that me and your dad are married?”

“Yes,” Bianca replied.

“Why would you do that?” 

“Because you  _ are _ married.” 

Nico sighed. “No, Princess, we’re not.”

She frowned. “But… You kiss like married people do.”

“Bi--” Nico bit his lip in thought. “You know what? Your dad is  _ way  _ better at explaining stuff than I am, so let’s talk about this with him, okay?”

Bianca nodded. “Okay.”

Nico stood back up. “Cool. Now, which classroom is yours?”

They walked a little ways down the hall until Bianca pointed out her classroom where groups of parents and children were clustered around the closed door. It looked like Will would have plenty of time to get there.

Nico took a seat on the floor on the wall opposite the door, and Bianca sat down beside him. After about a minute, Nico pulled out his phone, checking the time and for any possible missed texts. Nothing, yet Will should have gotten out of work at least twenty minutes ago. 

“Is Daddy gonna be here?” Bianca asked. 

“I’m sure he will,” Nico replied, though he wasn’t so sure himself. 

It was then that the classroom door swung open, and a couple emerged with their son, followed by Bianca’s teacher who pulled another family into the room. Both parents glanced at Nico and shared a look of disgust before the mother led their son away quickly. The dad hung behind and said, “Are you even old enough to have a first grader?”

“Biologically, yeah,” Nico said, unfazed. “Oh, you must’ve been a late bloomer, huh? Better hope that’s not genetic.”

The man practically snarled down at him. “How dare--”

“Also,” Nico cut in, tipping his head toward Bianca, “biologically, not mine. Thanks, though, not that I asked or care what you have to say.”

The man seemed at a loss for words, so angry that all he could do was stomp away with his hands clenched into fists at his sides. 

Nico grinned as he watched the man leave, and as he was staring down the hall, Nico saw a familiar blond walk up to the check-in table. He nudged Bianca gently with his elbow and said, “Hey, Bi, look who’s over there.”

Bianca looked over and immediately jumped to her feet with a cry of, “Daddy!” as she ran down the hall to meet him. 

Will caught Bianca and swung her off her feet in a hug, carrying her back down the hall. Bianca reclaimed her seat at Nico’s side as Will sat down on his other side, wrapping an arm around Nico’s shoulders and pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Why did that lady tell me that my  _ husband _ was waiting for me?” Will whispered.

Nico leaned in to Will’s touch. “Bianca thinks we’re married.”

Will paused, as if waiting for Nico to say something else. “And? You told her we’re not, right?”

“Of course I did,” Nico said. “I don’t think she got it, though.”

Will smiled teasingly. “I don’t think it should be that hard to explain.”

“After you.”

Will leaned forward to look around him, his mouth opening like he was about to speak, when suddenly a voice in front of them said,  _ “Ugh, _ disgusting homos.”

Nico looked up to see the woman that had flirted with him during career day - Jessica’s mom, he was pretty sure. 

“Oh, me? I’m not gay,” Will said to her with his usual bright smile. 

“I am,” Nico said, sinking further into Will’s side. “But you know what they say when you assume.”

The woman scoffed, leading Jessica away quickly as Nico and Will fell into a fit of giggles. 

“Doctor Solace,” Mrs. Johnson said, suddenly appearing in front of them. “I’m glad you could make it tonight, I know Bianca was anxious about it. Please, come with me.”

Will stood up off the floor as Bianca did the same, but Nico didn’t move. 

Mrs. Johnson raised an eyebrow at him. “You too, Nico.”

Will grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet, and the four of them walked into the classroom. Mrs. Johnson sat behind her desk while the others sat in a row of chairs opposite her. 

“So, um,” Will started, “how is Bianca doing?”

“She seems to be progressing well, on the same track as her classmates,” Mrs. Johnson responded. “Especially compared to the records I have from her kindergarten class in Nashville.”

“That’s great!” Will exclaimed, beaming down at his daughter. 

“I do have one concern, however,” Mrs. Johnson continued, and Will glanced back up with a frown. She reached into her desk and pulled out a large sheet of paper, then set it on the desk for them to see. Nico leaned closer to get a better look at it: a finger painting of three stick figures, one short and two tall, with the words  _ Daddy and Nico got married!!!  _ at the top.

“I suppose congratulations are in order,” Mrs. Johnson said, “but I must say, from what I’ve heard from Bianca, the two of you did get married awfully fast. Not that that’s any of  _ my _ business, of course, but I do have Bianca’s best interest in mind.”

“No no no,” Will said quickly, “we’re just dating! We… We  _ just _ started dating!”

Mrs. Johnson raised an eyebrow. “Well, I hope you know that Bianca would benefit from two  _ steady _ parents. What she  _ doesn’t  _ need is for the two of you to break up in a month or two and upset her entire world.”

“We have yet to go on a single date,” Nico commented, “but thank you. We’ll keep that in mind.”

Mrs. Johnson nodded. “Wonderful. Now, unless you have any questions for me, you three are free to go.”

 

* * *

 

Will had a late shift that didn’t allow him to get home until almost midnight, yet when he was walking down the hall toward his bedroom, a light in the living room caught his eye. Nico was sitting on the couch, his face glowing in the light of his laptop. In the amount of time that Will stood watching him, Nico pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose twice. 

Will walked over to him, resting his forearms on the back of the couch beside Nico’s shoulder, and peeked at the screen. There were large blocks of texts with a lot of red lines that marked misspellings. 

Nico glanced up over his shoulder and grinned at Will, stretching up for a kiss.

Will complied. “What’re you still doing up?”

“I was waiting for you,” Nico replied, shutting his laptop and standing up to stretch his arms over his head. “Did some homework while I was waiting.”

Will walked around the couch until he and Nico were toe to toe. “You didn’t have to wait up for me.”

Nico set his hands on Will’s hips to balance himself as he rose onto his tiptoes for another kiss. “Maybe I wanted to. Besides, I feel like you’re never here anymore.”

“Funny you should mention that,” Will said. “I asked for Friday off. I was kind of hoping you might like to, maybe, go out with me?”

“Are you asking me on a date, Sunshine?” Nico teased.

Will cocked his head to the side. “Nah, I just thought we could hang out. Maybe invite a few more dudes, have a guy’s night.”

“Are you--”

_ “No, _ I’m not serious, Nico,” Will laughed. “I want to… I want to go out to a fancy restaurant with you and have a nice dinner. We’ll do something cheesy, like share a dessert after dinner, or take a walk through some park. Maybe come back here to watch a movie and try not to fall asleep on the couch.”

Nico’s smile turned soft. “Who knew you were such a romantic.”

“Is that a yes?” Will asked. “Seriously, I need to know so I can find a babysitter for Bianca.”

Nico’s eyes widened in surprise. “A babysitter?”

“You didn’t expect me to bring my daughter on our first date, did you?”

“I dunno, I guess I just assumed…” Nico replied. “I could ask Hazel, probably. I bet I could convince her to watch Bianca overnight. You know, if you’re, uh, interested in having the place to ourselves?”

Nico was sure he saw Will’s cheeks turn pink. “Oh! Uh, yeah,  _ yes, _ I’m interested.”

Nico snorted. “Alright, I’ll ask Hazel in the morning. In the meantime, where did you have in mind for dinner?”

“I mean, I didn’t really think that far. I was thinking someplace pretty fancy, but since we don’t have a reservation we might not have very much luck with that. I haven’t really had the time to look around the city, either, so--”

“So, I’ll take care of the restaurant,” Nico cut in.

Will frowned. “No, wait! This is my idea, you can’t steal it!”

“You can take the credit and I’ll pick the place. You’re going to want to bring out your nicest clothes.”

“You don’t even know where we’re going yet.”

“I have idea.” Nico pulled himself away from Will and started toward the bedroom. “I’m gonna head to bed. You coming?”

 

Hazel had agreed to watch Bianca overnight, and Will had made sure that Bianca was comfortable with staying the night with Hazel. He packed an overnight bag for her - which included a printed copy of her allergy list - and then got dressed for his date. He still wasn’t sure where they were going, but Nico had insisted that Will wear a suit and pick Nico up at his apartment to make it a  _ real _ date.

When Will and Bianca arrived at Nico and Hazel’s apartment, Nico opened the door looking absolutely  _ stunning. _ His suit was a rich black, well-fitted with a gray shirt and silver tie, his hair styled for once instead of its usual messiness. Will couldn’t stop himself from leaning in for a kiss immediately after taking in the sight, but Nico stopped him with a hand on his chest and a, “Woah, at least buy me dinner first.”

Will pouted but Nico winked back to let him know he wasn’t serious, and then Nico led Bianca into the apartment. Bianca would be sleeping in Nico’s room that night, so that’s where Nico left her bag. They came back out into the living room to see that Will was insisting that Hazel put his number in her phone and to call if  _ anything _ happened. Nico had to practically drag Will out the door after they both said goodbye to Bianca.

Nico still refused to tell Will exactly where they were going even as Will drove them to the restaurant, finally pulling up to the valet for what had to be one of the finest restaurants in the city. As they walked inside, Nico stepped right past the waiting couples to the maitre d’ and said, “Nico di Angelo. I believe Chiara set a table for me in the back.”

“Of course, Mr. di Angelo. Right this way,” she said with a smile, and Nico waited until Will grabbed his hand before they started through the restaurant.

The place was completely packed, which made Will wonder how Nico had ever gotten a reservation, let alone with only two days’ notice. They were led all the way through the crowded main room and into a separate, smaller room with fewer scattered tables. They sat down across from each other at one of the tables as menus were set down in front of them and the candles between them were lit. 

“This is…” Will started, glancing around the room. “How did you…?”

Nico reached across the table and took Will’s hand, stroking his thumb across Will’s knuckles. “I know the owner.” He offered a half-shrug. “We went to summer camp together.”

Will cracked a smile. “Of course you did.”

He opened up his menu, and the conversation hit a lull. What were they supposed to talk about? It was their first date, technically, but they already knew so much about each other - definitely everything that would normally be covered on a first date. He didn’t want to talk about work or Bianca, and he wasn’t so sure that he should ask about Nico’s classes. What was Will supposed to say to get to know more about Nico? He needed to think of something before this awkward silence stretched on too long. 

Will cleared his throat. “The last time I went on a date, we went to see a movie. She was texting the  _ entire time, _ and I peeked at her phone to see that she was flirting with somebody who had like, every heart emoji attached to his name.”

Nico snorted. “I went on a date with this guy once who complained about his ex all through dinner, and then snuck off to the bathroom right before the bill got dropped off. He never came back.”

“That’s terrible!” Will said as he tried to hide a laugh. “Hang on, I’m sure I can think of another one.”

As the two continued to share terrible date stories back and forth, laughing at each other’s misfortune, Nico ran the toe of his shoe up and down Will’s leg under the table. Will traced his fingers along the lines of Nico’s palm while they waited for their dinner to be brought to them. They split a slice of cheesecake for dessert, fought over the bill before Nico tricked Will into letting him pay, and left the restaurant with linked hands and matching smiles.

They drove back to Will’s house afterwards. Will didn’t think he’d ever seen Nico smile for so long, and wanted to do whatever possible to keep him smiling for as long as he could. It wasn’t until they’d walked into the kitchen that Nico finally pulled him in for a kiss, and Will felt like he might melt under the touch. It hadn’t even been a full day since they last kissed, yet it had been far too long.

“So,” Nico whispered, drawing out the word. “We have the house all to ourselves. Whatever should we do?”

Will hummed. “I suppose we could watch a movie and see where things go from there.”

Nico threaded his fingers into Will’s hair. “Or we could skip the movie and head straight to the bedroom.”

Will wound his arms around Nico’s waist and pulled him close. “I like your idea better.”

With Nico’s free hand, he tugged on Will’s tie, both to loosen it and to draw Will close enough to kiss. He dropped Will’s tie somewhere on the floor before he started shoving at Will’s coat. They started stumbling down the hall toward Will’s bedroom, losing Nico’s coat somewhere along the way. Nico slid Will’s shirt of off him before giving him a light push toward the bed. Nico dropped his own pants before he climbed onto Will’s lap, straddling his hips as he laid Will down against the pillows.

As Nico started to trail kisses down Will’s neck, Will gasped out, “I, uh-- I haven’t done this in a while. I might be rusty.”

Nico brought his hands up to Will’s jaw, stroking his thumbs across Will’s cheeks. “It’s been a while for me, too. Don’t worry about it, Sunshine.”

Will’s fingers were slowly working on unbuttoning Nico’s shirt. “How long?”

“Hmm?”

“How long has it been? For you?”

Nico bit his lip in thought, and Will had the sudden desire to have Nico’s teeth on  _ him. _ “Almost a year, I think,” Nico said finally, almost sounding embarrassed.

“Oh.” Will’s hands froze on the last button.

“What?” Nico asked, brow furrowing in concern. “How long has it been for you?”

Will couldn’t make himself look Nico in the eyes. “Since...Bianca.”

“Oh.” Nico pressed a soft kiss to Will’s lips before sliding his hands down Will’s chest, slipping his fingers underneath the waist of Will’s pants, thumbing at the button holding them shut. “We’ll just have to make up for lost time then, huh?”

When Will finally looked back up, Nico was smirking down at him. 

For the first time, Will thought he was falling in love.

 

* * *

 

Will woke up one morning - a  _ Sunday _ morning, where he should’ve been able to get  _ at least _ another hour of sleep - to the feeling of his mattress shaking and cries of, “Daddy, Nico, I know what I want for my birthday!”

Will cracked his eyes open just in time to see Nico sitting up and pulling Bianca down into his lap. “Don’t jump on the bed, Bi, you could break it,” Nico told her softly.

Bianca gazed up at him with a frown. “But I’ve heard you and Daddy jumping on the bed before.”

Nico’s eyes widened, face burning bright red, and Will tried to hide his smile in his pillow. Nico opened his mouth to speak, but shut it again so quickly that Will heard his teeth click.

Will sat up, lifting Bianca off of Nico’s lap and setting her between them. “Nobody’s gonna be jumping on the beds anymore, okay?” Will said. “Now, what is it that you want for you birthday?”

“Earrings!” she cried.

Will frowned. “Bi, if you wanna wear earrings then you gotta get little holes poked in your ears.”

“My friend Zoe has earrings,” Bianca told him with a pout. “I want earrings, too!”

Will glanced up at Nico, who was now significantly less red than before. “I’m not even sure I know where you can get your ears pierced.”

“I do,” Nico said, and quickly followed it with, “Your birthday’s not for another week, though, Princess. How about we do it on your actual birthday, not right now.”

“Okay,” she agreed with a nod. “Will you make breakfast soon, Nico?”

“Sure,” he said. “What do you want? Pancakes?”

“Yeah!”

“Why don’t you start pulling the ingredients out, and I’ll be out there in just a minute.”

“Okay,” Bianca said, and climbed over Nico’s lap to get out of bed.

As soon as she was out of the room, Nico held his head in his hands and groaned loudly. “Oh my  _ god, _ I’m so embarrassed.”

Will wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and pulled him close. “It’s not like she knew what we were  _ really _ doing, babe, she’s six.”

“I don’t  _ care,” _ he moaned.

Will laughed, pressing a kiss to the top of Nico’s head. “How do you know where to get ears pierced, anyway?”

“No reason,” Nico muttered after a short pause.

“Oh my god,” Will started, cupping Nico’s cheek and turning his head to face him. “You had your ears pierced, didn’t you?”

Nico’s cheeks grew pink again. “Maybe.”

“You  _ did!” _

“Fine,  _ yes, _ I  _ did,” _ Nico told him, rolling his eyes. “But the holes closed up a few years ago.”

Will pulled him in for a kiss. “That’s a shame, you know? I bet you’d look really hot with earrings.”

Nico ducked his head and shoved at Will’s chest just enough for his boyfriend to release his hold. “I have pancakes to make.”

 

Sometimes, Will hated his job. Only sometimes, but when those few times came around, he _ really _ hated it. Like when he was scheduled to work on Halloween, or when he couldn’t go to career day at Bianca’s school. Or when he  _ specifically _ asked for a certain day off, but somebody called in sick and Will was the only person that could take over for them.

Those were the days that Will’s job sucked the most. 

When he told Bianca, she started crying.

“But it’s my  _ birthday,  _ Daddy!” Bianca pleaded. “You can’t go to work today, you have to come with  _ us!” _

“I wish I could, Bi,” Will told her gently, “But I have to go help people. I promise, I’ll meet you somewhere for dinner or something, okay? And maybe you can invite one of your friends to go with you. That sounds like fun, right?”

“I want  _ you _ to go with us!” Bianca shouted before turning around and running out of the room. Will froze where he was, kneeling on the ground, and flinched when he heard Bianca’s bedroom door slam shut.

Will rose slowly, head hanging, and went to finish getting ready for work. Nico stopped him in the kitchen, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend’s waist and tucking his head under his chin.

“I love my job.” Will’s voice sounded hollow, like he wasn’t even trying to convince himself anymore.

Nico tipped his head up so that Will could rest his forehead against his. “You’re allowed to hate it sometimes. Now’s a pretty good time to hate it.”

“Why today?” Will complained, twisting his fingers in Nico’s belt loops just so that his arms weren’t hanging limp. “Why not yesterday? Or tomorrow?” He squeezed his eyes shut. “God, she probably hates me.”

“She  _ doesn’t _ hate you,” Nico assured him. “She’s just upset. She’s a kid, you can’t take what she says to heart.”

“But she’s  _ my _ kid,” Will started, only for Nico to cut him off.

“Exactly, she’s _ your _ kid, so you know she’s gonna love you no matter what,” Nico told him. “She’s upset now, but she’s gonna be _ fine. _ Maybe later today, maybe tomorrow. She’s not going to be angry forever.”

Will wrapped his arms around Nico’s back, pulling him in for a hug and setting his forehead on Nico’s shoulder. “Thank you, Nico,” Will said.  _ I love you, Nico, _ he wanted to say, but now didn’t seem like the right time.

 

Will left for work, and about an hour later, Nico had gotten Bianca calmed down enough that they could leave for the mall. He hadn’t set foot in a Claire’s since he was sixteen; he’d felt out of place then and he felt out of place now. He would have felt much more comfortable taking her to a tattoo place, but he wasn’t sure they would pierce a six year old’s ears.

They walked right up to the counter at Claire’s anyway, and Nico said to the girl standing there, “Is there any way she can get her ears pierced today?”

The girl glanced over the counter and smiled down at Bianca, who was gripping Nico’s hand tightly. “Absolutely!” She reached under the counter and pulled out a paper and a pen, setting them down in front of Nico. “We just need a parent or guardian to fill out this form.”

Nico took the pen, freezing at the sight of the form. He most certainly was  _ not _ a parent or guardian, but he couldn’t break Bianca’s heart twice in one day.

“Everything alright?” the worker asked, eyeing Nico suspiciously. 

“Yeah,” Nico said with a start. “I just, uh, wasn’t expecting such an extensive form.”

She nodded, keeping her eyes on Nico for a second longer before smiling down at Bianca again. “Do you want to come with me and pick out your first pair of earrings?”

Bianca looked up at Nico. “Can I?”

“Of course, Princess, just don’t leave the store,” Nico told her, and Bianca ran off to follow the worker.

He filled out the form as best he could, but for the life of him could not remember Will’s address. After practically living there at this point, he thought he would have it memorized, but apparently not. Why did stupid  _ Claire’s _ need their address, anyway?

He slipped his phone out of his pocket, scrolling hastily through his emails until he found one of the first emails Will had ever sent him, listing his address and a few other details that Nico could add to the form.

He scribbled everything onto the paper, dropping his phone back into his pocket just as Bianca reappeared with the worker.

“Any problems?” she asked.

“Nope,” Nico told her, handing back the paper and pen. “Just finished.”

The worker pointed over Nico’s shoulder to a tall chair sitting up against the wall. “If you two want to wait over there for a few minutes, someone will be right over.”

Nico led Bianca over to the chair, lifting her up into it. Bianca started swinging her legs excitedly, staring down at the earrings she’d picked out - pearls, it looked like.

“How does it work, Nico?” Bianca asked.

“See how the backs of the earrings are pointy?” he started. “They take a little thing that looks like a hot glue gun and they poke a hole right through your ear.”

Bianca’s eyes widened. “Does it hurt?”

Nico shook his head. “Not really. Maybe for a second.”

Bianca’s eyes dropped back to the earrings in her hand, a frown growing on her lips and tears forming in her eyes. “Nico, I don’t wanna do it if it hurts!”

“It’s not bad, Princess, I promise,” Nico told her, but when she didn’t appear any less afraid, Nico said, “What if I do it, too? Then you can see that it doesn’t hurt.”

Bianca nodded.

“Okay,” Nico said, holding back a sigh. “Why don’t you go back to where you found those earrings and you can pick some out for me?”

“Really?” Bianca asked.

“Yeah, why not,” Nico answered. “Something you think I’d like, though. If they’re pink, I’ll find my own pair.”

Bianca laughed. “Okay!” And Nico helped her down from the chair. She ran off to find the earrings again, and Nico returned to the counter where the same girl was still standing.

“There’s a slight change of plans,” Nico started, planting his hands on the counter. “She’s a little bit scared, so can I get my ears pierced first, so she can see that it’s not a big deal?”

The girl smiled. “That might be the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard. Of course you can!” She pulled out another form, similar to the first but not quite the same. “Here’s a form for you, and when you’re done, we can pick out the earrings you want.”

“Actually, she’s picking them out for me,” Nico started, already scribbling his information down on the form, “and she’s probably going to need some help with that, if you wouldn’t mind?”

“No problem!” 

When Nico first got his ears pierced when he was sixteen, it was part of some teen-angst-rebellion thing he was doing, and he’d done it himself in his bedroom with a needle, because his father wouldn’t sign the waivers. 

The second time was the day he turned eighteen and Jason had said he’d get Nico whatever he wanted for under a hundred bucks, so Nico got an industrial piercing that looked like a sword going through the shell of his ear. He thought that one looked pretty cool until somebody told him it looked like one of those toothpick swords that hold sandwiches together, so he stopped wearing it.

Jason still had some money left over after that, so Nico got a lip ring while he was at it.

The last one had been on his twentieth birthday, when Percy convinced him to get his tongue pierced, and then made fun of him for it for about a month. Apparently the guy that did the piercing did it too far forward, so it ended up giving Nico a lisp. He didn’t keep that one in very long, but he was pretty sure the hole was still there. 

So now here he was, getting his ears pierced once again with a pair of tiny silver studs that Bianca and picked out for him. He barely flinched at the little sting of pain when the earring poked through his skin, more startled by the loud puff of compressed air coming from the earring gun.

He was done in no time, so he hopped out of the chair and knelt down in front of Bianca for her to see.

“Pretty!” she exclaimed.

“It’s your turn now,” Nico reminded her. “Ready?”

“Promise it doesn’t hurt?” Bianca asked.

“Did it look like it hurt?” he asked, and Bianca shook her head. Nico took one of her hands and lightly pinched the back of it with his fingers. “It’s like that. It’s nothing, right?”

Bianca nodded. “Okay. I’m ready.”

Nico lifted her up into the chair and the worker started rubbing at her ears with sanitizing wipes. 

“Will you hold my hand?” Bianca asked, making grabbing motions in Nico’s direction.

“Of course, Princess.” He took her hand, and she squeezed it when the first earring went through. 

“That hurt more than you said it would,” Bianca complained.

“But it’s not too bad, right?” Nico asked, squeezing her hand gently, only for her to squeeze back when the second earring when through. 

“All done!” the worker said, stepping back. “You can come pay at the counter whenever you’re ready.”

Nico lifted Bianca out of the chair, kneeling down in front of her, brushing away a tear before it rolled down her cheek. “Now you really look like a princess, Princess.”

Bianca beamed at him through teary eyes.

 

Will was still at work when Nico and Bianca returned home from the mall, which meant that Nico had time to dig through his backpack to see if he happened to have any of his previous jewelry on him.

Luckily, through a thorough search of the bag’s contents, Nico found a tiny box that contained his favorite pair of earrings (which had been his sister Bianca’s), the sword he wore through his industrial piercing, the lip ring he could no longer wear because the hole closed up, and finally the single black stud that always sat too far forward on his tongue. 

He stepped into the bathroom, remembering to grab the  _ Claire’s Earring Solution _ on his way, and let the jewelry soak as he tied his hair back; it had just grown long enough to fit into a stubby ponytail. He rinsed off the sword in the sink before carefully placing it through the shell of his ear, and repeated his actions when he set the stud in his tongue. 

It felt weird to have both pieces back in place after a few years. Nico could taste the residue from the earring solution on his tongue, but when he looked at himself in the mirror, tongue sticking out to show off the stud, he couldn’t help but grin.

He stepped back into the hall, he could see Bianca sitting on the ground in front of the couch as she colored in a picture on the coffee table. Nico sat down across from her, asking, “Can I have a picture to color?”

Bianca nodded, pushing her coloring book toward him. “You can pick one.”

Nico took the book - it was full of Disney characters, it seemed, though nothing later than 2009, probably - flipping through the pages quickly until he settled on a simple picture of Mickey Mouse. “Can I take this one?” he asked, doing his best to ignore the slight lisp his tongue ring gave him. 

Bianca nodded again, taking the book and ripping the page out, handing the single sheet back to him. As Nico picked up a crayon and started to color, Bianca said, “What’s that in your ear?”

Nico smiled at her. “An earring, like what you have.”

“But it’s different,” Bianca pointed out. “You didn’t have that earlier. It’s like you’ve got a sword in your ear!”

“I do.”

“Can I see it?” Bianca asked, and Nico leaned over the table, ear first, so that she could get a better look. 

“It hurt to put in, like your earrings did, so be careful,” Nico told her, making a face at the way his voice sounded to himself with the stupid lisp. 

“You’re talking funny, too,” Bianca said as Nico sat back to look at her. “A sword in your ear shouldn’t make you talk funny, right?”

Nico thought for maybe half a second that he should scold her for making fun of the way he talked, but figured that since he couldn’t even properly say  _ scold, _ he shouldn’t bother. “Nope, not the sword,” he told her, and he stuck his tongue out at her. 

“Whoa, cool!” Bianca cried, eyes widening. “Is that like an earring in your tongue?”

Nico nodded, closing his mouth. 

“Can I get one of those, too?” 

He laughed, reaching over to ruffle Bianca’s hair. “Maybe when you’re older, Bi. Now, how about you tell me what you might want for your big birthday dinner?”

 

Nico was cooking when Will got home, which usually seemed to be the case. Bianca had wanted homemade macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes, which was a strange combination, but Nico was happy to make it for her. He had just set both pots to boil when Will walked in the door.

“Is she still mad at me?” Will asked in lieu of a greeting, staring off in the direction of the living room.

Nico shrugged. “Probably not.”

_ “Nico,” _ Will whined, but froze when he glanced over at his boyfriend. “Is that-- Did you…?”

“Maybe,” Nico said with a grin, turning to face Will fully. He reached up, cupping Will’s cheek and dragged him down to his level. “But wait,” he said, and drew their lips together in a kiss, slipping his tongue past Will’s teeth and letting the stud swipe against the roof of Will’s mouth.

When Nico pulled back, Will looked - for lack of a better word - surprised, and maybe a little bit turned on, though his voice seemed almost shaky when he asked, “What was that?”

Nico stuck his tongue out for a moment before saying, “Well, you seemed so interested this morning.” His lazy grin fell away almost immediately as he realized what he’d said -  _ how _ he’d said it, lisp and all - and turned away quickly as his cheeks started heating up.

“Oh my god,” Will breathed, wrapping his arms around Nico’s waist from behind. “Say that again and tell me I’m not dreaming.”

“No,” Nico refused, busying himself with shredding a block of cheese into a dish for after the pasta was cooked.

“Please?” Will tried again, chin resting on Nico’s shoulder.

“Leave me alone, Solace,” Nico said, realizing his mistake as soon as the words were out of his mouth.

_ "Oh my god,” _ Will said again, pressing a smiling kiss to the side of Nico’s neck. “I can’t believe it.  _ I cannot believe _ that my boyfriend - my  _ hotter than hell _ boyfriend - is also the most adorable man on the planet.”

“Go away,” Nico laughed, trying and failing to shove Will off of him. “Or no dinner for you.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Will gasped, pretending to be shocked.

“I would,” Nico insisted. “Besides, dinner won’t be anywhere near as interesting to you when I have to take the stud out.”

“The thud?” Will teased.

“Shut up, oh my god.”

“Fine, fine,” Will relented, though he didn’t move away. After a short pause, he said, in a low voice, “You know, I wouldn’t be opposed to you wearing that to bed tonight, if you know what I mean.”

Nico turned around in Will’s arms, staring up at him with a dead-serious look in his eyes. “We don’t jump on the bed anymore, William.”

Will lasted only a few seconds before his lips cracked into a smile and he dove down to peck Nico on the lips.  _ I love you, _ he wanted to say, over and over and over again until he didn’t have any air left in his lungs. Instead he settled on, “You’re a dork.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!! since im slightly ahead of schedule im taking a slight break ((a week probably)) to work on some other stuff so there won't be another update here until march probably


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ive had this chapter finished for,,, a while,,, and i apparently uploaded it as a draft but never published it so,, sorry yall,,,, hopefully you enjoy it anyway!!

Will was dead on his feet. He usually felt pretty tired whenever he got home from work, but something about that night made him feel even more exhausted than usual. He considered himself lucky that he even remembered how to get home, and which key would let him into the house - okay, he hadn’t, and had tried just about every key on the ring before he finally managed to unlock the door. He was even confused to see someone sleeping in his bed because the very concept of having a boyfriend had slipped his mind, but at the same time, Will was too tired to be worried about someone - who was that, Nico? - being in his bed.

He stripped out of his clothes, too tired to look for pajamas and resigning to sleep in his underwear instead, and laid down. Almost instantly, Nico curled up against his side, throwing a leg over one of Will’s and laying an arm across Will’s stomach, and Will had a sudden sense of comfortable familiarity. This made sense, he thought. Nico _belonged_ there.

Nico pressed a kiss to Will’s chest before dropping his head on Will’s shoulder. “G’night, Sunshine,” he mumbled.

Will hummed. “Night, Darlin’.”

He felt Nico tighten his hold on him as he whispered, “I love you,” against Will’s skin.

Will fell asleep with a smile on his face.

Nico’s words rang through Will’s head as he slept, eventually waking him up after too few hours of rest. Will groaned as he opened his eyes, rolling onto his side and curling around Nico in the hopes of chasing after just a little more sleep. _I love you,_ he heard, but not in his own voice. That wasn’t Will fighting not to say those words where Nico could hear him, and it wasn’t Will whispering those words into the top of Nico’s head when he was sure the other was asleep. That was _Nico’s_ voice, _Nico’s_ words that he’d pressed into Will’s chest like a kiss.

“You _love_ me,” Will whispered, hoping that saying the words aloud would help him to process them better. _“You love me.”_

He watched every minute shift of Nico’s expression as he started to wake, his eyes blinking open slowly and meeting Will’s gaze. “Will?”

Will loved him. “You told me you love me.”

“Huh?”

Will pressed his lips to Nico’s. He loved him _so much._ “You love me!”

Nico hummed. “I guess so,” he said, sounding much more awake after the kiss.

Will kissed the tip of his nose, then the bridge, up to his forehead, repeating with each kiss, “You love me!”

Nico reached up with both hands, grabbing Will’s cheeks and drawing him back for a proper kiss. “I love you, Sunshine.”

“I love you _so much,”_ Will replied, resting his forehead against Nico’s.

Nico kissed him again, soft and slow, licking his way into Will’s mouth and tangling his fingers in his hair. Will felt like he could kiss Nico every second for the rest of his life. _He loved him!_

They didn’t move from the bed for another hour, content to lay in each other’s arms until Will’s stomach started growling, finally motivating them to move. Still, they could barely keep their hands off each other - it was like the night that they’d shared their first kiss among many. Will wanted to keep Nico within arm’s reach, and Nico couldn’t seem to let two minutes pass without kissing him.

Nico had never been in love, and being so immersed in Will’s love was like a constant high. He’d felt love before, sure, but from his friends and family, never in a romantic sense. Even when he’d convinced himself that he was in love with Percy so long ago, he knew it wasn’t really love. This love that he felt for Will was true and pure and passionate, and best of all _mutual._ Everything that Nico felt for Will, Will felt for him, and knowing that made Nico’s heart swell.

He cooked omelets for the two of them, and regular scrambled eggs for Bianca. After breakfast, the three of them moved to the couch for some Saturday morning cartoons. Nico sat down beside Will and was immediately pulled across his lap, his arms wrapped around Nico’s waist to pull him close. Had it been anyone else, or had it even been just a few days earlier in their relationship, Nico would have fought against being manhandled in such a way. Instead, he rested his head against Will’s chest and intertwined his fingers with Will’s, relaxing completely into the hold.

 _God,_ he was _so in love._

 

* * *

 

Will had resigned himself to the fate of never sleeping again. His scheduled shifts meant nothing anymore, since he was always asked to stay later than scheduled, or he would get caught by an incoming trauma as he was trying to leave. So far, his record for consecutive hours spent at the hospital was sixty-three, due to his accidentally falling asleep on an unused gurney in the middle of a hallway between shifts. He really scared Nico when he did that, though, so he’d made sure never to do that again, at least not without sending a text first.

There was one evening where Will had gotten home just after Nico and Bianca had finished up dinner, and Nico had told him immediately to go to bed. Will tried to argue, as he always did at times like these, but his constant yawning wasn’t very persuasive. Nico had to actually _push him_ down the hall and into his room, only for Will to drag Nico onto the bed with him.

“If I have to go to sleep, then so do you,” Will insisted, rolling on top of Nico and effectively pinning him down.

“You’re a _child,”_ Nico told him, trying to be stern though he ended up laughing. Nico wriggled around until he managed to flip their positions, straddling Will’s stomach and pinning his wrists to the bed.

Will smirked up at him. “I thought you wanted me to sleep. _This_ definitely feels like something else.”

Nico rolled his eyes. “No, I _actually_ want you to sleep.” He started to climb off of Will’s lap, but Will wrapped his arms around Nico’s waist to pull him back down.

“Don’t you wanna stay here and cuddle with me?” he asked with a pout.

 _“No,_ I don’t.”

“I think you do.” Will rolled them until they were on their sides, and he curled up against Nico’s chest with a contented hum, like he was ready to fall asleep right then and there.

Nico shoved at his shoulders. “Alright, _fine,_ I do. But somebody needs to make sure Bianca goes to bed on time, and since you need to sleep, that somebody has to be me. I’ll come back as soon as Bi’s all settled in. _Don’t_ wait up for me, okay?”

Will pouted again but released his hold on his boyfriend, falling onto his back and draping an arm over his eyes dramatically. “No promises.”

Nico rolled his eyes again and stood up. “Goodnight, Will.”

“We’ll see.”

There were still two hours before Bianca’s bedtime, so Nico had brought out his laptop and glasses, prepared to spend just about every second of those two hours on his homework. He ended up setting an alarm on his phone to remind him to send Bianca off to bed because he knew that if he didn’t, they would both be up half the night.

However, even when Nico’s alarm went off, he was too focused on proofreading to acknowledge it, and ended up sending Bianca to bed about half an hour late. He’d pretty much forgotten about his promise to Will, too, and worked on his manuscript for another two hours before he couldn’t think straight anymore. It was only then that he finally forced himself off the couch and into the bathroom to brush his teeth.

Nico had been living out of a duffel bag of clothes that he kept in the guest room - he went back home every weekend to see his sister, do laundry, and switch out the clothes he brought over - and so he went there to change before walking across the hall to Will’s room.

He tried to be quiet as he slipped into bed, but Will seemed to wake up anyway as soon as Nico lifted the covers. He pressed himself against Will’s side, draping an arm across his stomach, resting his head on Will’s chest, throwing a leg over Will’s and pressing his cold foot against Will’s calf. “I told you not to wait up for me,” Nico reminded him.

“I never promised,” Will mumbled into the top of Nico’s head before placing a kiss there. “And you’re late. _Really_ late.”

“I was busy. I--” Nico groaned, burying his nose in Will’s collarbone. “I killed Mary. It was the only way to move things forward, but she was my _favorite.”_

Will set a hand on the arm Nico had resting on his stomach. “What the _hell_ are you talking about?”

Nico lifted himself up so that he could gaze down at Will in the dark. “Bianca’s friend from school, Mary, I killed her and buried her in the backyard.”

Will reached up and patted Nico’s cheek tiredly. “Babe, I’m so tired that I don’t know if you’re being serious or not, but _please_ tell me you’re not serious.”

“It’s my book, Will,” Nico said, his smile clear in his voice. “Mary was my favorite character, but there was no way for the plot to move forward unless she died.”

Will pulled Nico back to his chest. “Thank god. Lead with that next time, would you?”

Nico rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Go to sleep.”

“I love you,” Will said, and Nico hummed in response. “You love _me,”_ he tried again, and this time Nico’s hum came out as more of a grumble.

“I guess I do.”

Will kissed the top of his head once more. “You know you do.”

 

* * *

 

It was that time of the week again that Nico needed to go back to his own apartment. He needed to do laundry, sure, but he also hated leaving Hazel alone for so long. He hardly ever spoke to her during the week, and the seemingly sudden change of seeing his sister every day and then practically never was sometimes too much for him to handle. As much as he wanted to spend all of his time with Will, he wanted some alone time with Hazel, too.

Even if she teased him mercilessly every time he came home.

He’d gotten home while she was still at work - at some kind of witchy, cultist shop that let her sell her own jewelry - so he had some time to himself as he started his laundry. When Hazel finally walked through the door, the first thing she said to him was, “Oh, do you still live here?”

Nico rolled his eyes. He was in the kitchen, searching through the cabinets and fridge and freezer, trying to find something he could make for dinner. “It doesn’t look like _anyone_ lives here. Where’s all the food?”

“You always did the grocery shopping, you tell me,” Hazel replied.

“Oh. Right.” He went back to the cabinet, pulling out a few assorted items before deciding, _I can do something with this._ “You should probably start buying your own food.”

“Why?” Hazel asked. “Planning on moving out permanently sometime soon?”

Nico felt his shoulders hunch up defensively. “No. Maybe.”

Hazel jumped up behind him, setting her hands on his shoulders and shaking him. “Are you going to ask if you can move in?”

“No way!” Nico shrugged her off so that he could cross the kitchen and start making dinner. “That’s like… That’s like if I invited myself to a party at his house, except _permanent._ He’s got a kid, so it needs to be solely his decision. I don’t want to pressure him into it, either.”

“He wouldn’t say no.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Nico sighed. “I dunno, am I even...ready for it? How do I know I’m not jumping into something too quick?”

A moment of silence passed between them as Nico set a pot of water on the stove to boil. “So, I started dating Frank in high school, right? He already knew that he was going into the army before we’d ever even met, so when we started dating I realized that if we really got serious, then I would have to learn to deal with dating a soldier. Whether that meant we would have a long-distance relationship, or we would have to get married right away, and I wouldn’t have a choice as to where I live. All that really freaked me out at first, you know? But I love him, and he loves me, and if he wants to get married in a few months so that we can live on base together, I’m not going to say no.

“I know it’s different for you because you and Will haven’t been together as long, and I know he hasn’t told you that he loves you, but he _does--”_

“He does love me,” Nico cut in. “He told me a few days ago. And I said it back.”

Hazel punched him in the arm. _“That’s_ the kind of stuff you tell me! When it happens, not _days later!_ But now I’m even more certain that you should move in together! Just think about how much easier it would be: he wouldn’t have to ask you to come over, you wouldn’t have to keep lugging your dirty clothes back here--”

“I’d already be gone when Frank moves in, so I’ll be out of your hair,” he said teasingly.

“Who said anything about Frank moving in?”

“You literally just told me that you’re planning on marrying him. He doesn’t have anywhere else to go once he graduates, why wouldn’t he move in?”

Hazel huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “Alright, you got me. But I haven’t asked him yet.”

“I don’t think you need to. Or, it’s not much of a question anymore. Not _will you move in with me?_ but _I kicked my brother out so we’ll have the place to ourselves when you get here.”_

“I’m not _kicking you out,”_ Hazel told him.

“I know you’re not, but I’m certainly not going to be a third wheel in my own home.” He tapped his fingers on the counter before he turned toward his sister. “Okay. If Will doesn’t ask me to move in with him before Frank graduates, then I’ll ask him.”

Hazel stepped up to him and pulled him into a hug. “I’m gonna miss you.”

Nico’s arms closed around her. “Me too.”

 

* * *

 

Sometimes, Will still couldn’t believe that he could just walk up to Nico and kiss him. He would wrap his arms around Nico and tell him he loved him, and Nico would say it back. Almost every night he got to fall asleep with Nico in his arms, and almost every morning he woke up to that same beautiful sight. But he didn’t want _almost,_ he wanted _every._

There was one night where Will had fallen asleep beside Nico, but woke up to an empty bed, only to find Nico in the kitchen cooking breakfast. It smelled like he was making french toast, and it looked like the shirt he was wearing was one of Will’s - he was almost certain Nico had never owned such a bright yellow shirt.

Will walked up behind him, slipping his arms around Nico’s waist and pressing a kiss to his shoulder through the fabric of his shirt. “Good morning, Darlin’.” A quick glance at the clock on the stove told him that Nico must have already taken Bianca to school, and that he still had a few hours before he needed to leave for work.

Nico tilted his head to the side, making room as Will started to kiss a path up his neck before mouthing at the skin just beneath his ear. “Breakfast isn’t ready yet.”

“Maybe I don’t want breakfast,” Will whispered into his ear. “Maybe I want _you.”_

“Well, maybe _I_ want breakfast,” Nico told him, shrugging his shoulder to knock Will away. “And then, _maybe,_ you can have me.”

Will hummed, tightening his hold on Nico. “I like the sound of that, but I really just wanted to talk to you about something.”

“You should work on your phrasing.” Nico took a moment to scoop the piece of french toast out of the frying pan and onto the stack plated on the counter. He set the spatula down, shut off the stove, and turned around in Will’s arms, lacing his fingers together behind Will’s neck. “What’s up, babe?”

Will took a deep breath, his hands moving to rest on Nico’s hips, and he smiled down at him. “I want to ask you something.” Slowly, he lowered himself down onto his knees, pulling Nico’s hands from his neck to hold between them.

“Will--” Nico started, his eyes widening.

“Nico,” Will cut in before kissing along Nico’s knuckles. “I know it hasn’t been long, but--”

 _“Solace,”_ Nico tried again, uselessly trying to tug his hands from Will’s grasp.

“I know it hasn’t been long,” Will repeated, a little louder in the hope that Nico wouldn’t try to interrupt again, “but I love you _so much._ I love waking up beside you every morning, and I love that yours is the last face I see before I fall asleep. I miss you so much when you’re not right there beside me, and I don’t ever want to sleep without you again. Will you move in with me?”

Nico shoved him back so hard that Will landed on his butt. _“Oh my god!”_ Nico exclaimed, tugging at his own hair as he took a few steps back. “Will, what the _hell_ is the matter with you?”

“What? What did I do?” Will asked as he righted himself back onto his knees.

“You--! On your _knees!”_ Nico practically screeched. “I thought you were _proposing!”_

“Technically it is a proposal, in a way.”

Nico stepped back toward him, taking Will’s face in his hands and forcing him to look up at him. “I thought you were asking me to _marry you.”_

Will grinned. “Maybe next week.”

_“Will--!”_

“None of this has been an answer.” Will rose back to his feet, his hands covering Nico’s on his cheeks, his thumbs stroking across the backs of Nico’s hands. “Move in with me. You can say no - it might break my heart, but you _can -_ and we don’t have to do anything _now._ Do you want some time to think--”

“No.”

Will’s expression dropped. “Oh.”

 _“No,_ I don’t want to think about it,” Nico finished. “I _do_ want to move in, just...not right away. And I have a condition.”

Will breathed out a sigh of relief and he knocked his forehead against Nico’s. _“Anything.”_

“Redecorate the bathroom.”

Will flinched back in surprise. “What?”

“You have a _beach-themed_ bathroom. I _hate_ beach-themed bathrooms,” Nico told him. “I refuse to permanently live in a house that has one.”

“I had no idea that that was such a problem for you, but I would have redecorated a month ago if it got you moved in here sooner.”

Nico fell forward into Will’s chest. “You’re such an asshole, you know that?”

“I just told you I would redecorate!”

“Not _that--”_ Nico groaned. “The proposing! You were _proposing,_ don’t tell me you didn’t realize.”

“Yeah, well _you’re_ an asshole, too,” Will argued. “I thought you said _no!”_

“You could’ve just asked like a normal person. You barely even had to ask at all.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Nico wrapped his arms around Will and squeezed. “I told Hazel that if you didn’t ask, I would. You had two weeks before I asked you myself.”

Will grinned. “You were going to invite yourself to live in my house?”

“Only if you didn’t! And it’s _our_ house, now.”

“Move in, and then I’ll call it _our house.”_

 

* * *

 

It was rare that Will wouldn’t see Nico’s car in the driveway when he got home from work, though sometimes it was to be expected when Will wasn’t working his usual hours. However, after five in the evening Will assumed he would be entering a noisy house but instead found it empty, save for a full suitcase he found in his bedroom.

He could only guess at who the suitcase belonged to, and his suspicions were only confirmed when he entered the bathroom to find the walls bare and counters ridded of the few beach-themed decorations that had been there.

Will left the bathroom in search for his phone, ready to call Nico and see where he and Bianca had gone off to, when the front door opened. Will came around the corner to see his two favorite people walking into the house with their arms full of grocery bags. He pressed a kiss to the top of Bianca’s head before taking the bags from her hands and setting them on the counter, then swooped in quick to kiss Nico square on the lips.

“Hi, Darlin’,” Will said when he pulled away, and Nico replied, “Hey, babe.”

“Are there any more groceries you want me to get out of your car?” Will offered, but Nico shook his head.

“Thanks, but we got ‘em all,” Nico said. “I’d let you help me put everything away, though.”

“Of course.”

Will took the bag of fresh vegetables and walked over to the fridge, about to start putting them away when Nico said, “Wait! Not those, leave those out for dinner.”

He set the bag back on the counter and turned to help Bianca instead. Once the last of the boxes were put away in the pantry, Will reminded Bianca that she had homework to finish up and so she went to her room to do so.

Will hopped up on the island, kicking his heels softly against the cabinet doors and watching Nico’s back as he expertly sliced the vegetables he’d had Will leave out.

“So…” Will started when Nico’s cutting ceased. “The bathroom looks a little different.”

He could see Nico’s smile when he turned slightly to grab a pan to set the vegetables in. “Well, we had a deal, didn’t we?”

“Would that explain the suitcase I found in my room, too?” Will asked innocently, and he watched Nico’s smile twist into a pout as he spun around to face Will fully.

 _“Your_ room? Did you ask me to move in just so I could go back to sleeping in the guestroom?” Nico said while crossing his arms over his chest.

“Sorry, of course not.” Will reached forward, grabbing a hold of one of Nico’s arms, and pulled him closer. _“Our_ room.”

Nico beamed at him before darting up to kiss him, resting his hands on Will’s thighs. “I only have clothes so far, and I didn’t unpack anything yet because I didn’t wanna mess with your stuff without you, but maybe we can do that later tonight?”

Will didn’t reply immediately, only gazing softly at his boyfriend.

“What?” Nico asked.

“I love you,” Will told him.

Nico rolled his eyes. “I love you too, you giant dork.”

 

After Bianca went to bed, the two adults made their way into their newly shared bedroom, Will throwing open the closet doors and Nico going straight for his suitcase at the foot of the bed.

“Well, the good news is that I have plenty of space in the closet for you to hang some stuff,” Will told him. “The bad news is that I’m all out of hangers.”

“I’ll buy some tomorrow,” Nico replied. “What about dresser space? Could you try to clear out a drawer for me?”

“I can try, but I don’t think I’ll be able to make much room,” Will said. “And you’re going to need more than one drawer anyway.”

Nico sighed, feeling dispirited as he stared down at the still-full suitcase. “There’s an empty dresser in the guest room right? We could move it in here.”

Will dropped onto the floor next to him and pressed their shoulders together. “There’s a few things in there that I’ll have to find a new place for, but yeah, we could do that. Might be too big and loud of a job for tonight, since I don’t want to wake Bianca, but maybe tomorrow after I get home from work? I hate to make you live out of a suitcase for a little while, but--”

“I’ll survive,” Nico replied, tipping his head to rest on Will’s shoulder. “I probably should have run it by you before I started bringing stuff over, anyway.”

Will kissed the top of his head. “Don’t worry about it, Darlin’. I’m just happy that you’re finally here to stay.”

Nico smiled. “Me too.”

 

The next night, they emptied out the dresser in the guest room and moved it across the hall into their bedroom. Nico emptied out his suitcase, putting away most of his clothes in the newly acquired dresser while Will hung the rest of the clothes with the hangers Nico had bought that morning. When they had finished, they collapsed on the bed together and planned when they would get the rest of the Nico’s things out of Hazel’s apartment, eventually deciding on the next Friday, when Will would be off work early enough to pick Bianca up from school.

That day, after Nico dropped Bianca off at school, he drove to Hazel’s apartment, letting himself inside with the key he still had attached to his keyring. Hazel had already left for work by the time he got there, so he had the place to himself while he gathered up his things, throwing the last of his clothes into the suitcase he’d brought with him and tossing small miscellaneous items into old grocery bags.

He’d tied his hair up at some point to get it out of the way, but even then his hair kept falling into his eyes. When Hazel had finally returned home and noticed him packing, she found herself annoyed by him constantly blowing the hair out of his eyes after just a few minutes, and so she’d forced one of her headbands into his hair.

It wasn’t long after that that Will and Bianca came to the door, knocking even though both Nico and Hazel had told them in the past to just walk right in if it was unlocked - Nico was always immediately put on edge by the sound of knocking, ever since Bianca’s death, and this time was no different. Once the Solaces were inside, Nico had started describing all the packing he’d already done and was trying to tell Will what could be taken down to his car, but when he looked up he saw Will smiling dopily at him.

“Will?” Nico said. “Are you listening to me?”

“Sure, yeah,” Will replied. “But I’m a little distracted by how cute you look right now.”

Nico felt his face heating up, and the burning only increased when he heard Hazel laughing from across the room. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“C’mon, you know I love that stubby little ponytail you have,” Will said. “And the headband makes it even better. You’re very cute, Darlin’.”

Nico shoved at him, slightly less gently than he normally would. “Shut up. Just… Hurry up and load this stuff into your car so that we can go home already.”

 

* * *

 

Nico had been doing work for his classes non-stop for about a week. His final essays and short stories and manuscript were all due in a span of three days, and if even _one_ of them wasn’t finished on time, he wouldn’t graduate.

There was one day where he locked himself away in the guest room after dropping Bianca off at school. He spread out on the bed with his laptop and notebooks and printouts of assignment requirements. He had his glasses on and a glass of water next to him on the nightstand. He was ready to spend the entire day on these assignments, locked away to avoid any distractions - except for the fact that his phone kept ringing. He only kept his phone on him in case Will called, and he had the ringer turned on so that he could listen for the specific ringtone he’d set for Will. What he heard instead were Annabeth’s, Hazel’s, and even _Leo’s_ for some reason.

When Hazel had called him a second time - just when he couldn’t withstand his hunger any longer - he finally answered just to tell her to leave him alone for the rest of the day. She’d managed to tell him to _check the group chat for once in his life_ before he hung up on her.

He didn’t really have the time to scroll through an endless sea of texts from his friends, but he figured it wouldn’t kill him to take a break from his essays while he ate a sandwich. As he expected, almost every text sent in the last day was about him: first, Jason had asked Hazel to wish Nico good luck on his exams, then came a long string of texts from the others telling Hazel to do the same for them. Nico glared down at his phone when he read the text from his sister.

_FROM: Hazel; i would if he still lived here_

This, of course, set the others wild. _What do you mean he doesn’t live with you anymore? Where did he go? He didn’t pick up his phone, is he okay? I haven’t heard from him in a month!_

When he finished his sandwich, he shut his phone off. Could he not have _one day_ to himself without having his friends pester him for details about his life?

He completely forgot that he’d kept his phone with him in case of a call from Will as he abandoned his phone on the counter and retreated back to the guest room. For another few hours, he was able to work in peace, managing to finish two of his final essays before he needed to refill his glass of water.

As he stepped out into the hallway, he heard a call of, “Nico? Are you here?”

“Yeah,” Nico called back, and he met Will halfway down the hall.

“I texted you, like, five times,” Will told him with a frown.

Nico felt his heart rate spike, and looked around frantically for Bianca. “Did something happen? Where’s Bianca, is she okay?”

“She’s fine,” Will said quickly, setting his hands on Nico’s arms. “Everything’s fine. I just got a little worried when you didn’t text me back. Are _you_ okay?” Will cupped Nico’s cheek in his hand, stroking a thumb under his eye.

“I’m fine,” Nico told him, and patted at his pockets in search of his phone. “I must’ve left my phone somewhere, I’m sorry, Sunshine.”

Will’s brow furrowed as he scanned Nico up and down. “What have you been doing all day? You look exhausted.”

“Gee, thanks, babe,” Nico said with a roll of his eyes. “It’s my classes. I’ve been working on my finals all day.”

“Oh. When are they due?”

Nico sighed. “Two of them are due tonight, but I already finished them, then I’ve got one due tomorrow and two the next day. I’m trying to get a headstart on the others, but I came out to get some water.”

“When was the last time you took a break?”

“Um…” Nico’s gaze drifted downward. “What time is it?”

“Alright, no more homework. Go sit on the couch and watch TV with Bi.”

“What? No, I can’t quit now, I have so much work to do!”

“Have you even eaten today?” Will asked, but before Nico could answer, Will continued, “Nope, never mind, I don’t want to know. I’m going to go make dinner right now, and you and Bi are gonna pick a movie, and you’re going to _relax.”_

_“Will--”_

“Nope! No arguing!” Will pulled him in for a kiss. “I love you. Let me take care of you.”

Nico huffed. “Fine.”

He allowed Will to lead him over to the couch and sit him down, pressing a kiss to the top of his head before heading toward the kitchen. Once Nico thought that Will was completely preoccupied with cooking, he quietly rose from the couch - looking to Bianca with a finger raised to his lips to make sure she stayed quiet - and started back toward the guest room.

Just as he stepped into the hallway, Will appeared behind him and wrapped his arms around Nico’s waist, lifting him off his feet.

“Will! Put me _down!”_ Nico cried, kicking his feet rapidly. “When did you get so _strong?”_

Will spun him around, only able to hold Nico aloft for a few moments, and led him back toward the couch. He sat Nico down again, though this time he turned to Bianca and said, “Don’t let him leave this spot, alright? I’ll be back in ten minutes, but if he tries to get up before I come back, shout for me, okay?”

Bianca nodded with a smile, proudly accepting her responsibility, and pressed herself against Nico’s side as she hugged one of Nico’s arms - like that would keep him down. Nico slouched in his seat with a huff loud enough for Will to hear on his way back to the kitchen.

In ten minutes, Nico was loading up a movie on Netflix - Bianca had picked it and Nico didn’t care enough at the moment to veto her choices - and Will was walking back into the room with three bowls - two large and one small - each filled with mac and cheese. After passing out dinner, Will took his seat on the end of the couch, sandwiching Nico in between the two Solaces.

For the next hour, Nico was hunting for any chance to escape. He offered to take their dishes into the kitchen with the hope of dropping them in the sink before sneaking off to the guest room. When he had gotten up, though, Will told him sweetly, “If you’re not back in five minutes, I’m going to hide your laptop on a high shelf.”

Nico groaned as he dropped the dishes in the sink. He dragged his feet as he made his way back to the couch, slumping back into his seat. Will draped an arm over his shoulders, pulling him into his side. Nico wanted to resist, wanted to hold a grudge like he was so good at doing, but he relaxed into Will’s hold. He couldn’t be mad at Will even if he _tried._

Once the movie was over and Bianca was sent off to get ready for bed, Will pulled Nico even closer and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “Go finish your homework.”

Nico twisted until he could look up at Will. “Huh?”

“Your exams,” Will said, “or essays, or whatever they are. You should go work on them.”

Nico’s eyes narrowed. “This sounds like a trick.”

Will smiled. “It’s not. I just wanted you to take a break and eat something. I’m not going to be the one responsible for you failing your classes, how mean do you think I am?”

“You’re not mean.” Nico reached up and tilted Will’s head down for a kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Will told him. “Now get to work.”

He practically pushed Nico off the couch, and once he was on his feet Nico practically ran to the guest room. It took him a little while to get back into the groove of writing, but once he hit his stride it was like he would never stop. He’d just about finished another essay and decided that he would reread it after a quick bathroom break, only to have his way back into the guest room blocked once he left the bathroom.

“Will,” Nico said, standing in front of his boyfriend with crossed arms.

“Go brush your teeth,” Will told him, his voice breathy and tired. He was leaning back against the closed guest room door, his head tipped to rest against the doorframe.

“I have work to do,” Nico argued.

“You’ve been working for two hours.” Will blinked slowly, like it was hard for him to keep his eyes open. “You need to sleep, babe, and so do I.”

“So go to sleep, and I’ll meet you there.”

“No you won’t.”

Nico sighed, hoping to look like he’d given up. “Alright, fine.” He stepped back into the bathroom to brush his teeth, then returned to the hallway to see that Will had practically fallen asleep while standing up against the door. Nico grabbed his hands and pulled him into their bedroom, allowing Will to crawl onto his own side of the bed as Nico did the same. He tried to stay close to the edge, figuring that as soon as Will fell asleep he could slip back out and finish his paper, but then Will wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him toward the center of the bed, up against Will’s chest.

He waited until Will’s grip seemed to relax. Carefully, he shifted closer to the edge of the mattress, gently lifting Will’s hand from his stomach so that he could sneak away, but then Will’s hold strengthened once again. He drew Nico in close once more and whispered against the back of his head: “I was waiting for you to try that.”

 

* * *

 

When Nico finished his last final, all he wanted to do was sleep until everything was graded. He wasn’t sure how he would survive the next two weeks without dying from his anxiety. What if he didn’t pass? What if one of his papers was _just bad enough_ that it kept him from graduating? He didn’t think he could survive another semester of writing stuff that someone _else_ told him to write, even if it was just one class. He wanted creative freedom for _once._

The day after he’d submitted his last final, Friday, he’d been so relieved and ready to relax that he wasn’t even anxious. Saturday was when the nerves hit, and all he wanted was for Will to come home and smother him with love and affection, but Will wouldn’t be home until sometime in the afternoon.

He was grateful to have Bianca as a distraction. She practically demanded they play video games until lunchtime. Then after they ate, Annabeth called to check in, which was another great distraction until she started asking about how his finals went. He was trying to tell her to just leave it alone until he got his grades, but then there was a knock on the front door.

Nobody had ever knocked on the door. Not once since Nico’s first day at the house in August. He froze, his voice cutting out, and he barely even heard Annabeth’s voice asking him, “Nico? What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“Somebody...knocked.”

He heard Annabeth take a deep breath. “It’s probably just the mailman, or something. You should answer it.”

Nico’s heart was pounding, his mind flashing images of his sister in his head - walking away from Bianca in the woods, opening the door to see Bianca in the arms of that drunk _asshole,_ a nurse pulling a sheet over Bianca’s face as he lifeless body laid in a hospital bed. “But what if it’s--”

“It’s _not,”_ Annabeth assured him. “That’s not going to happen again, Nico.”

The knocking came again, louder this time, and Nico flinched.

“Nico,” Bianca called from across the room, “someone’s at the door.”

He hesitated. “I’ll call you back.” He hung up the phone and started toward the front door, his legs stiff like they didn’t want to let him move. His hand was shaking as he reached for the doorknob, and his mind flashed to images of Bianca once again - only this time, when Nico opened the door, it wasn’t Bianca. It was _Will,_ his body lifeless, his skin dripping with blood, his blue eyes cold and shattered like glass.

He felt a tug on his pant leg, and looked down to see Bianca standing behind him, gazing up at him curiously.

Nico wrapped his fingers around the doorknob and pulled the door open.

At first glance, it looked like the man on the front step was Will, but then Nico started to notice the differences. He was taller than Will by just a few inches, enough to see like he was towering over Nico. He had the same tan skin, but lacked Will’s freckles. He took off his sunglasses, revealing his blue eyes that were as cold as ice and _nothing_ like Will’s.

“Can I help you?” Nico asked.

The man leaned in, resting an arm on the doorframe near Nico’s head, and grinned with too-white teeth. _“Hello,”_ he purred, and Nico had the sudden urge to slam the door in his face. “This is Will Solace’s house, yes?”

Nico frowned, his hand tightening on the doorknob. “Who’s asking?”

“His _father._ You can call me Apollo. And what can I call _you?”_

Nico could detect the flirting in his tone. “Uninterested. Will’s not here, and I don’t think he’d like to hear that you stopped by, so I suggest you leave.”

Apollo laughed. “Now, I don’t doubt that. When might he be back?”

“Why don’t you leave and never find out?”

Apollo stepped closer, one hand shoving at the door and overpowering Nico’s own hold on it, and forced his way into the house. He leaned in until he was face-to-face with Nico, and said, “Why don’t you shut up and let me into my own son’s house?” He smirked when Nico recoiled, and continued into the house. “This looks like a lovely home,” he said from the kitchen as he took it all in, “but where is--” Apollo turned back to Nico and saw him hurry to shield Bianca behind himself. “--Ah. There she is. Hello, Bianca. I haven’t seen you since you were about six months old.”

Bianca shied away without responding, hiding herself further away behind Nico.

Instead of trying harder to get her attention, Apollo turned his focus away from her and started further into the house. “Which way would the bathroom be?”

“There’s a gas station about two miles down the road,” Nico replied. “I’m sure you can use theirs.”

“I’ll find it on my own, then.” Apollo started down the hall.

As soon as he was out of sight, Nico spun around and crouched down in front of Bianca, setting his hands on her arms and whispering to her, “I want you to go play in your room, okay? Go to your room and close the door, and don’t come out until I come to get you. Can you do that?”

“Was that my grandpa?” Bianca asked quietly.

“That’s Daddy’s dad, yeah.”

“I don’t like him.”

Nico smiled, hoping it would be comforting. “I don’t like him either, Princess. Go to your room now, okay?”

Bianca nodded and started toward her room, Nico following closely behind her to make sure Apollo didn’t catch her alone. Once she was safely in her room with the door shut, Nico pulled out his phone to call Will. He didn’t expect an answer since he knew Will was still at work, so he spoke to Will’s voicemail instead.

“Will, this man showed up at the house and said he’s your father - tall, blond, blue eyes, he looks a lot like you. I tried to tell him to leave, but he shoved past me and now he’s inside. He said he’s here to see you, and I don’t think he’s going to leave until he does, so please, _please_ come home soon, okay? I love you.”

He heard the bathroom door opening as he put away his phone, and he kept his eyes locked on Apollo as he made his way into the living room where Nico had been pacing. Apollo stopped directly in front of Nico and smiled down at him.

“See something you like?” Apollo asked.

“No.”

“That’s a shame, because I _definitely_ like what I’m seeing.” He reached up, grabbing Nico’s chin between his thumb and forefinger, tilting Nico’s head up.

Nico grabbed his wrist and yanked his hand away. _“Do not_ touch me.”

Apollo sighed and stepped away, shoving his hands in his pockets as he started looking around again. “So, who are you to my son? Just the babysitter? The boyfriend? Not the husband, of course, I would have known if Will was married.”

“I highly doubt Will would tell _you_ of all people if he got married.”

Apollo spun around with a raised eyebrow. “You think he _told me_ his address? You think he told me that he was moving away from home, or where he works, or even what kind of _car he drives?_ I know how to keep tabs on my children, Sweetheart, the only thing I don’t know about is _you.”_ Slowly, he started toward Nico again. “So. Babysitter? Boyfriend? Or just his little _thing_ on the side? Will seems like the kind of boy to take after his father, don’t you think? As a matter of fact, I bet he’s hooking up with some nurse in a supply closet right now.”

“Shut up.”

“I never pictured him settling down with a man, either. I suppose I could still change that, if you’re interested.”

_“Get away from me.”_

Apollo grabbed Nico’s wrist and tugged on it until Nico fell against his chest, and Apollo wrapped his other arm around Nico to hold him there. “What are you going to do about it?” he whispered into Nico’s ear.

“I’ll call the police!”

Apollo slipped his hand into Nico’s pocket and pulled out his phone, then tossed it away. _“Now_ what are you going to do?”

Nico thrashed in his hold in an attempt to escape, finally jamming his knee into Apollo’s crotch and finding freedom away from him. He fell to the ground and scrambled for his phone, managing to pull up the dial pad before Apollo got a grip on the back of his shirt and dragged him back to his feet.

“Get away!” Nico shouted, and the next thing he knew, Apollo dropped him.

He heard the sound of a fist hitting a face, and rolled onto his back to see Will throwing punches.

“Nico, call the police,” Will told him, shoving Apollo away.

 _“Nico,_ what a beautiful name,” Apollo said. “Italian, isn’t it?”

 _“Don’t_ talk to him,” Will spit. “Don’t _look_ at him. Don’t touch _him_ or _my daughter_ ever again, do you hear me?”

Apollo started to _laugh._ _“Your_ daughter, that’s adorable!”

“Will, what’s he talking about?” Nico asked.

 _“Call the police, Nico!”_ He focused his attention back to his phone and started dialing.

“William, you never told him?” Apollo asked, taking a step forward, but Will just shoved him back again. “Nico, you’re almost as much Bianca’s father as he is. The only person here who holds the true title is _me.”_

 _“I_ raised her, _not you.”_

Nico spoke their address into his phone, and repeated the words, _“Please send help,”_ over and over until the operator agreed.

 _“Get out of my house!”_ Will started shoving him toward the door, but Apollo resisted.

“Can’t I say goodbye to my own daughter first?”

“She is _not your daughter!”_ Will shoved him again. “Don’t talk to me, don’t talk to Nico, and _never_ talk to Bianca, _ever again. And get out!”_

 _“Fine!”_ Apollo shouted in his son’s face. “I’ll leave. But believe me, I’ll be back someday.”

Sirens sounded outside.

Apollo grinned. “I suppose that’s my cue.”

Casually, he made his way outside, and Will followed after him to make sure he really left. Nico went to Bianca’s door, knocking softly before opening it a crack. “Bianca? You can come out now.”

Bianca came up to the other side of the door and whispered, “Is he gone?”

“Yeah, Princess, it’s safe now.” He pushed the door open wider and held out a hand for Bianca to take. He led her out into the living room and when they sat down on the couch, Nico pulled her into his lap.

“Where’s Daddy?” Bianca asked.

“He’s outside. He went to make sure his dad really left, but he’ll be back inside soon. I hope.”

Only moments after the words passed Nico’s lips, he heard the front door open as Will stepped back inside. He came to find them in the living room and sat down beside them, resting his chin on Nico’s shoulder and wrapping his arms around them both.

Will sighed. “I’m so sorry.”

 _“I’m_ sorry,” Nico said.

“What? No, you shouldn’t be--"

“I let him in the house--”

“You _didn’t._ If anything it’s _my fault--”_

“It’s not--”

“Daddy?”

Will took a deep breath, and reached up to brush Bianca’s hair away from her face. “Yeah, Bi?”

“Is that scary man gonna come back here?” she asked softly.

Will leaned closer to press his forehead to Bianca’s. “No, Bi, I promise. He’ll never come back here again.”

Nico watched as Bianca’s eyes started to water before she cried out, “I’m scared!”

Will pressed a kiss to her forehead. “There’s nothing to be scared about. We’ll keep you safe.”

“Will,” Nico started, “I’m not the most comfortable here right now either. I… I can call Hazel. Maybe we can stay with her tonight.”

Will nodded. “Yeah, let’s do that. And if we can’t stay with her, we’ll get a hotel or something. Just for tonight. Everything will be better in the morning.” He kissed Nico’s shoulder through his shirt before standing up and lifting Bianca off of Nico’s lap. “Let’s go pack a bag, Bi.”

Nico pulled out his phone and called his sister.

 

Nico let them into Hazel’s apartment with the key he had no intention of returning. Hazel came running from the hall and wrapped her arms around her brother as soon as she saw him. “Oh my god, are you guys okay?” she asked as she stepped out of the hug.

“Just a little shaken up,” Nico answered, “but we’re fine.”

“Thank you for letting us stay here tonight,” Will told her.

“Oh, of course! I was just straightening up Nico’s old room so it would be ready for you. I didn’t know if you wanted me to set up the air mattress in there for Bianca, or if she would sleep on the couch instead, so I left the air mattress folded up in Nico’s room for now.”

With another _thank you_ from Will, he and Bianca made their way toward Nico’s old room. Nico handed his backpack off to Will as he passed, and Nico asked Hazel, “Have you eaten yet? I’m in a cooking mood.”

Hazel smiled. “You’re always in a cooking mood. Good thing I just went grocery shopping, huh?”

Nico usually didn’t let anyone help him in the kitchen, but he had too much on his mind to do everything by himself, so he allowed Hazel to step in every so often. She tried asking him a few times about what had happened, but Nico kept shooting everything down, claiming that he couldn’t talk about it yet, and changed the subject every time she asked. First to work, then to Frank, then to what she was going to do with Nico’s empty bedroom once Frank moved in.

“You _did_ ask him to move in, right?” Nico asked. “We had a deal, didn’t we?”

“We had a deal about you leaving, not about Frank moving in,” Hazel clarified.

“Hazel--”

“I talked to him about it. He’s moving in as soon as classes are over, so not too long now. Anyway, what’s up with you?”

“What do you mean?”

Hazel came to stand next to him at the stove and elbowed him. “You know, you and Will. Any updates?”

Nico rolled his eyes. “I just moved in a couple weeks ago, what are you expecting? Do you think we’re gonna get married next week or something?”

“Well, I would say meeting the parents would come before that. Are you going to take him home to meet Dad? Or what about his parents?”

Nico raised an eyebrow at her, with a look of _Are you serious?_ “Hazel. I _just_ met his dad. Clearly that didn’t go well.”

Hazel smacked herself in the forehead. “Right, duh.”

“And you and I made a pact, remember? No going back until we’re both either engaged or married.”

“Oh, you were serious about that? I thought you were just being petty.”

“I _was._ But I was serious about it, too. You didn’t go back, did you?”

“No--”

“Good, I don’t want you going there by yourself.”

“I can handle myself, Nico.”

“I know you can, but I don’t trust him.” He hesitated before he spoke again, tapping his fingers on the counter in thought. “Do you think… Would you have been better off if you hadn’t come to live with us? If they had found another close relative to send you to, do you think you would’ve been happier?”

“I’m happy _now,_ and I wouldn’t change a thing.” Hazel pressed herself against his back and hugged him from behind. “I may have gained a shitty dad, but I got a pretty cool brother, too.”

He reached over the stove to shut off the burner. “It’s done. I’m gonna go get Will and Bianca.”

 

Will had blown up the air mattress in Nico’s room because Bianca was still too shaken up to sleep in a different room. Will had gotten her settled into bed a short while before he and Nico started getting ready to sleep. By the time the two of them slipped into Nico’s bed - it was smaller than Will’s so they had to sleep closer together, not that either of them minded - Bianca was snoring softly across the room.

They laid on their sides, facing each other. Will held Nico’s face between his hands as he kissed him, again and again, before resting his forehead against Nico’s. “Are you going to be alright?”

Nico nodded carefully so as to not bump his head into Will’s. “I’ll be fine. I’ve gotten worse from my own dad. Are _you_ okay? I saw you take a couple of swings at him. You didn’t hurt your hand, did you?”

“It’s just a little bruised.” He took a deep breath. “I’m so sorry you had to see that. See _him._ I haven’t seen him since Bianca…”

“Will, is she…? She’s not--”

“She’s not mine,” Will told him, and Nico saw his gaze fall away as he wrapped one of his arms around Nico’s waist to hold him closer. “She’s my half sister, and I’m her legal guardian. I’m the only dad she’s ever known.”

“What if… I mean, I could be her dad, too.”

Will chuckled. “What are you talking about?”

Nico groaned. “No, you’re right, it’s stupid. Never mind.”

“Nico, tell me what you’re thinking.”

He took a breath before he spoke. “When Hazel’s mom died, our dad was the only relative of hers they could find, so she was sent to live with us, regardless of how terrible my dad was. Is. Whatever. My point is that if something happened to you, where would Bianca go? Would she get stuck with Apollo? Or she could stay with me if I...adopted her.”

Will didn’t answer right away. When he did, all he managed to say was, “Nico--” before he was cut off.

“I told you, it’s a dumb thought. I’m-- It’s late, and we’re both tired. Maybe we should just forget I said anything and just go to sleep.”

“Nothing’s gonna happen to me,” Will whispered, rubbing his hand up and down Nico’s back.

“I know, but… But it _might.”_ He lifted his hand to thread his fingers through Will’s hair. “The last thing I want is to lose you, but if I lost you _and_ Bianca, I don’t know what I would do with myself.”

“I love you, too,” Will said with a smile. “Let’s talk about it in the morning, okay?”

Nico sighed. “Yeah, okay. Goodnight.”

Will kissed his forehead. “Goodnight, Darling.”

Nico let himself relax against Will’s chest as his eyes slipped shut, and he started to drift off to sleep. Just before he succumbed to the slumber, he heard a whisper of, “You’re going to be a great dad.”

 

Will sat Bianca down on the couch the next night. He had a late-night shift for which he had to leave in about half an hour, but he wanted to be there in support of Nico as he talked to Bianca. The two of them had spent the morning talking logistics - was Nico really ready to adopt a kid? What did this mean for their relationship? It wasn’t just about Nico, either, but was _Will_ ready to fully share his parenting responsibilities? - before they came to the conclusion that, _yes,_ this was happening.

Nico sat down on the coffee table in front of Bianca and rubbed his sweaty palms on the thighs of his jeans. Why was he so nervous? Bianca couldn’t _refuse_ him as her guardian, could she?

He cleared his throat before he spoke. “So, Bi.” His gaze flickered toward Will, who was watching over them from a few steps away, ready to jump in if necessary. “You know what adoption is, right?”

She nodded. “That’s like when a kid has no parents, so somebody takes him home and says they’re gonna be the parents now.”

“That’s close, yeah. It’s a little more complicated, but that’s not really important right now. So, uh, there’s a term for if someone is _like_ a parent, even if they’re not _actually_ your parent. It’s a legal guardian. They have all the same responsibilities of a parent, but they have to sign a lot of papers and talk to a judge before they can be a legal guardian. Is this making sense?”

This time, it was Bianca who looked toward Will, as if asking for an explanation. Instead of speaking, Will just tipped his head toward Nico to turn her attention back to him. Bianca shook her head no.

Nico took a deep breath. “Okay, um. I want to adopt you. So, I won’t _really_ be your dad, but I could be, like, your almost-dad.”

“But...if you’re my dad, then what happens to Daddy?” Bianca asked.

“Nothing will happen to me, I’ll still be here,” Will assured her.

“You’ll have two dads - me and Daddy. Two parents. We’ll be a family.”

“Two dads? I thought a family had to have a _mom_ and dad. Is two dads allowed?”

“Of course it’s allowed. A family can be whatever you want it to be - you and Daddy were are a family on your own right now, but I want to be a part of your family, too. Is that okay?”

“But...I thought you already _were_ part of my family.”

Nico blinked. “You did?”

She nodded. “If I’m gonna have two Daddies, then how will I know which Daddy is which?”

“You can still call me Nico, if you want.”

“I’m still gonna call you Nico.”

He smiled. “So, does that mean I can adopt you?”

“Yeah!” Bianca exclaimed with a huge smile. “We’re gonna be the best family _ever!”_

 

* * *

 

They were sitting on the floor in the living room playing Candy Land when Nico got a phone call. His volume was turned up so the ringtone played loud and clear, and Will watched as Nico declined the call without even looking at the number.

“You don’t need to get that?” Will asked as he moved his game piece over the board.

“It’s just Annabeth. I’ll call back her later.”

Bianca drew a card and moved her game piece.

“How do you know it’s Annabeth?”

Nico drew a card as he replied, “That’s her ringtone.” He moved his game piece.

Will didn’t move to pick up a card, instead watching Nico curiously. “You have ringtones for everyone in your phone?”

Bianca held out a card to Will. “Daddy, it’s your turn.” Will took the card with a  _thank you,_ and moved his game piece to the appropriate tile.

As Bianca took her turn, Nico replied, “Just the important people.”

“So I have one.”

Nico drew another card - double red, _nice_ \- and grinned at Will after moving his piece. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“That’s why I asked, yeah.” Will took a card and moved his game piece with a huff - back to the Peppermint Forest at the start of the board.

Bianca drew the next card, another double, and landed on the final tile. “I win! Nico, can we have celebration grilled cheeses for lunch?”

“How’s a celebration grilled cheese different from a regular one?” Nico asked.

“They’re for celebrating, ‘cause I won.”

Nico smiled. “Okay, sure.” He stood up off the floor, making sure to stuff his phone back into his pocket as he did, and stretched his arms over his head. “Can you put the game away please, Bi?”

As Bianca started picking up the pieces, Nico made his way into the kitchen, and Will scrambled up off the floor to follow him.

“Hey, wait!” Will called after him. “You’re really not going to tell me?”

“Nope,” Nico replied, popping the _p_ in the word. He pulled out the bread, cheese, butter, a frying pan. He got to work buttering the bread as Will hopped up to sit on the island.

“But everyone has a different song.”

“Yep.”

“How do you choose?”

Nico slapped a couple of pieces of bread into the pan before laying cheese down on top of them. “Well, Hazel’s is _Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend_ because she makes jewelry, and because she hates that song. Pretty much everyone else’s are either their favorite song from high school - which, for the most part, they hate now - or it’s some other song they absolutely despise. Except for Frank’s; his is _Funky Town,_ which is a very, _very_ long story.”

“How did you pick mine? You don’t know my least favorite song, do you?” Will asked.

“Why are you so curious?” Nico flipped the sandwiches in the pan with a spatula.

“It’s _my_ ringtone, I want to _know._ C’mon, just play it for me.”

“Not going to happen, Sunshine.”

Will hummed as he slipped his phone out of his pocket. “Let’s see… You call me _Sunshine_ all the time, so it must be _Walking on Sunshine,_ right? Or _You Are My Sunshine?_ Am I on the right track?”

“Not at all,” Nico replied as he plated the two sandwiches and started to make more.

Will scrolled through his contacts before he found Nico’s number and hit _call._ After a moment, Nico’s phone started to ring in his pocket.

_“Save a horse, ride a cowboy! Everybody says, save a horse, ride a cowboy!”_

Nico turned around slowly, making no move to silence his phone, and smirked up at a _very_ red-faced Will. “Are you _really_ sure you wanted to know?”

Will hit _end call_ and the song ceased. He hunched over, burying his face in his hands as he begged, _“Please_ change it.”

Nico stepped up to him, standing between his knees, and pulled Will’s hands away from his face so that Will could see his bright smile. “Absolutely not.” He pressed his lips to Will’s before moving away again. “Should I make tomato soup?”

 

* * *

 

It was Memorial Day weekend. Nico had helped Frank move into Hazel’s apartment the weekend before, and while he was there he’d casually mentioned to Hazel how _nice_ it would be for them to have a place all to themselves. Hazel had quickly taken the bait and offered to have Bianca over for another sleepover sometime, and Nico jumped on the opportunity.

That was how he found himself seated on Will’s lap on the couch with Bianca fifteen minutes away at Hazel’s place. Nico was shoving handfuls of popcorn into his mouth while Will kept trying to hide from the TV, usually by pressing his face into Nico’s shoulder.

 _“Shit!”_ Will exclaimed, slapping a hand over his eyes - his other arm was pinned between Nico’s back and the arm of the couch. “Why are you making me watch this?” he whined for probably the fifth time in the last hour.

“It’s a good show, babe,” Nico replied through a mouthful of popcorn, his eyes still glued to the screen.

“How can you eat while you--” Will peeked between his fingers and yelped at the sight on the screen before shielding his eyes again. “Oh god, are those _intestines?”_

“You’re a surgeon, Will, don’t you see a lot of intestines?”

“In an operating room! Not… Not out in the middle of somebody’s yard! That man is _tied to a tree,_ Nico!”

“It’s a _serial killer show,_ Will.”

“I can’t watch this anymore,” Will told him, and ducked his head to hide in Nico’s hair. “Tell me when it’s over.”

A few minutes passed before a the sound of a gunshot rang through the room, and Will’s head snapped up. “It’s over,” Nico informed him unhelpfully.

The show itself actually ended about five minutes later, and as the credits started to roll, Will announced, “You’re never allowed to pick what we watch _ever again.”_

Nico tilted his head back to look up at Will, bringing one hand up to thread his fingers through Will’s curls. “And what would _you_ have gone with? Some lame documentary, or something?”

Will leaned down until his nose bumped against Nico’s. “I wouldn’t have had us watching TV, that’s for sure.” He closed the gap between them and licked his way into Nico’s mouth, fighting to press himself closer despite their odd positions. Nico moaned as he tugged at Will’s hair, and brought his other hand up to grasp at Will’s shirt.

The popcorn bowl fell from Nico’s lap and overturned onto the floor, sending popcorn everywhere and startling the two apart. Will groaned as Nico started to laugh.

“I’ll pick it up if you look for another show,” Nico offered, and Will rolled his eyes.

Nico slid off Will’s lap, careful to avoid stepping on any popcorn pieces and making the mess worse. He nudged at Will’s legs until he picked his feet off the floor and swung his legs up onto the couch until he was laying back against the armrest, and Nico scooped the larger pieces of popcorn back into the bowl to throw out later. He decided he would vacuum up the smaller pieces in the morning, and left the bowl on the coffee table before he crawled over Will to lay on top of him.

He held himself over Will, close enough to feel Will’s breath on his face but far enough that their noses didn’t touch. “Did you find something?”

Will grinned. “You’re going to hate it.” From the phone in his hand, he connected to the TV and started playing a new show.

Nico didn’t bother paying attention as he lowered himself to connect his lips to Will’s once again, kissing him slowly, thoroughly, before moving to his jaw. He mouthed along the jawline, then down Will’s neck. He tugged on the color of Will’s shirt with one thumb, his other hand slipping up underneath Will’s shirt to map out his abdomen with his fingers, and Nico bit down on Will’s collarbone.

“Hey!” Will jolted at the sudden pain, and pinched Nico’s hip.

Nico pulled back and smiled down at him, about to dive back in, until he heard a monotonous voice coming from the TV. He groaned and collapsed against Will’s chest. _“No,_ you _actually_ chose a documentary? Are you _trying_ to put me to sleep?”

“Documentaries are interesting! And I’ve been wanting to watch this one for a while. C’mon, humor me. I watched your awful show, you can watch mine.”

Nico huffed and got comfortable on Will’s chest, head tucked under Will’s chin and turned toward the TV. Will set a hand on Nico’s back, rubbing up and down soothingly, only succeeding in relaxing and tiring Nico more and more with each stroke.

Every so often, Nico would make a soft noise, almost like a _huh,_ that Will recognized as something he did when he was trying to keep himself awake.

“Nico,” Will whispered, and Nico hummed in response. His fingers twitched against Will’s stomach. “I love you.” Nico hummed again and rubbed his cheek against Will’s chest. Will nearly _melted._ “I wanna marry you.”

Will didn’t hear the words until they were already out of his mouth, but he wouldn’t have taken them back even if he could. He’d been thinking those words over and over in his head since the night Nico had asked to adopt Bianca, but he never thought he would say them out loud. He needed to talk to Nico about it for _real,_ not just an offhanded mention while talking about adoption.

In that moment, Will decided: he was going to ask Nico to _marry him._

 

Nico didn’t remember how he got to bed last night, or much of anything after the start of the documentary Will had put on. He remembered a dream, though, of laying with Will in a field of flowers, and Will’s words repeating in his head. _I wanna marry you._ But that wasn’t just a dream, was it?

He rose before Will and went out to the living room to finish cleaning up his mess. He took the bowl of popcorn and dumped it in the trash before he washed the bowl in the sink. He wanted to vacuum up the smaller pieces that remained on the living room floor, but he didn’t want to risk waking Will.

Actually, now that he thought of it, Nico had a much better idea of how to wake Will. He went to the kitchen, pulling out the supplies for pancakes and preparing to deliver breakfast in bed. He walked over to the pantry to grab the chocolate chips, and when he turned back he saw Will walking into the room.

Nico frowned at him. “You’re supposed to be asleep.”

Will smiled sleepily. “Good morning to you, too.” He stepped up to Nico and framed his face in his hands before drawing him in for a kiss. “I love you.”

Nico set the bag of chocolate chips on the counter next to them. “Enough to marry me?”

Will’s smile turned blindingly bright. “Maybe. Why? Are you asking?”

“Nope.” Nico moved toward his cooking supplies and started whipping up a batter. “I kinda figured you might, though.”

He felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist from behind, and Will’s chin dropped onto his shoulder. “Nico, will you marry me?”

“Haven’t I told you that a marriage proposal should be done on your knees?” Nico asked as he poured the chocolate chips into the batter.

Will stepped away and dropped to his knees, placing his hands on Nico’s hips and turning him to face him. “Is this better?”

“I think you’re supposed to have a ring, too.”

Will’s head fell against Nico’s stomach with a whine. “Do you want to marry me or not?”

Nico took Will’s hands off his hips and pulled up until Will got the hint and rose to his feet. “Will, we’ve only been dating for a few months.”

“I know. I’m not saying we should get married _tomorrow,_ but...sometime. You’re adopting my daughter, I’m _gonna_ marry you one day.”

Nico cracked a grin. “Oh, you think so?”

Will squeezed Nico’s hands. “I hope so.”

Nico sighed, and lowered himself to one knee. He slipped his hands out of Will’s and slid the silver skull ring from his finger. “Will--” he started, but cut himself off when he tried to put the ring on Will’s finger, though it didn’t fit. “Uh, hang on.” He tried again, pushing the ring down to the base of Will’s pinky as he said, “I want you to know how important this ring is to me, okay? It was a gift from my sister, and… And now it’s even more important because...because of this.” He took a deep breath. “Will Solace, will you marry me someday?”

Will pulled him back to his feet, kissing him for a moment before pulling back and saying, “I love you.”

“That’s not an answer.”

Will laughed, pulling Nico as close as he could, and pressed kisses across his face.

“Verbal consent is important, Will.”

Will pulled back just enough to look into Nico’s eyes, smiling brighter than the sun, and Nico supposed that made sense, since the sun and the sky generally came together. “Nico,” Will whispered. “We’re gonna get married.”

“Not if you don’t actually give me an answer, we’re not.”

“You’re going to be my _husband_.”

“I--” Nico paused, cutting off his own remark, and carefully, _so slowly,_  he reached up and brushed his fingers across Will’s cheek. “I’m gonna be your husband.” This time it was Nico that initiated the kiss, though it wasn’t long before he was pulling away with a groan and knocking his forehead against Will’s shoulder. “I have to introduce you to my dad now.”

Will frowned. “What, like, _now?”_

“No, it’s…” He sighed. “It’s a long story. Let’s talk about it later, okay?”

The two of them left about an hour later to go pick up Bianca from Hazel and Frank’s. Frank greeted them when they arrived and invited them to sit on the couch, explaining that Hazel was helping Bianca pack up her things. Will and Frank, who had yet to officially meet, greeted each other with a handshake before they all settled down.

Frank glanced over his shoulder toward the hallway where Hazel and Bianca were, and turned back to Nico and Will when he deemed it was safe. “So, uh, Nico,” he started, his voice hushed and his body leaning toward Nico. “I was hoping to get your opinion on, um. Well, I’m planning on asking Hazel to marry me--”

Nico cut him off with a loud groan as he slouched back into the couch.

Frank blinked in surprise. “Is there a...problem?”

Nico ran a hand over his face as he said, “No, no, of course not. You should’ve asked her a year ago, but-- You know that deal I made with Hazel?”

He nodded.

“Will and I are engaged.”

“Oh! Congratulations,” Frank told them. “That’s great, that’s-- _Oh.”_

“What are you talking about?” Will asked. “What deal?”

“Hazel and I promised each other that we wouldn’t see our dad in person until we were both either engaged or married, and we would go together to make sure we didn’t have to be alone with him,” Nico explained. “If we’re both engaged, then we have to go back to California.”

“I don’t have to propose yet,” Frank offered, but Nico rolled his eyes.

“Don’t be stupid, Frank, she talks about marrying you every time I talk to her.”

Just then, they heard Hazel’s voice from down the hall asking Bianca, “Are you sure you have everything?” before they both came walking down the hall. Immediately, Frank sat up straighter in his chair as if to seem unsuspicious.

When they entered the room, Bianca ran straight for Will while Hazel sat on the arm of Frank’s chair. “What are we talking about?”

“We’re engaged,” Nico replied plainly.

Hazel raised an eyebrow and coughed like she was trying to hide a laugh. “Really?”

“Yeah, really,” Nico said, narrowing his eyes at her like he was daring her to laugh.

Instead of cracking a joke, Hazel smiled genuinely. “I’m so happy for you both!”

“Thank you,” Will said.

Nico rose to his feet. “Well, we should probably be heading out. I’m sure we’ll all be seeing each other soon enough.” He shot Frank a pointed look before he leaned in to kiss Hazel’s cheek in goodbye.

“What, that’s it?” Hazel asked. _“Thanks for watching my kid, I’m engaged, see you later?_ That’s all you’ve got to say to me?”

“Oh yeah, I guess I should say thanks, huh?” Nico replied with a wide smile. “But no, you’re right, there is one more thing. I’m in the process of adopting Bianca.” He turned around to face the Solaces and said, “Are we ready to go?”

He ushered them out the door with one last wave to his sister and her soon-to-be fiance.

“Why are you in such a hurry?” Will asked as they started down the hall.

“Frank looked like he was going to explode with how much he wanted to pop the question,” Nico answered. “I figured we’d better give them some space.”

By the time they reached the car, Nico had already gotten three texts.

_FROM: Hazel; Did you know he was going to propose?_

_FROM: Hazel; Seriously, he did it the second you walked out the door_

_FROM: Hazel; I guess we’ll be planning a trip to Cali soon, huh?_

 

* * *

 

Will was on his lunch break when he got a phone call. He recognized the number as one from Bianca’s school, and answered immediately. Why would someone be calling him in the middle of the day, unless something was wrong? “Doctor Solace, hello!” Bianca’s teacher greeted him when he answered the call. “I’ve only got a few minutes before I have to pick up the class from the lunch room, but I have a very important matter I need to discuss with you and your partner. When would be a good time for you to come up to the school?”

“Uh--” Will froze. Was something going on with Bianca? Was she actually not doing as well in school as they’d been told? Would she have to repeat the first grade? “Um, when would be best for you?”

“Well, I would prefer that Bianca _not_ be present for the discussion,” the teacher continued, and Will’s heart sank. Bi was going to have to repeat the year, and _Will_ was going to have to be the bad guy. He _hated_ being the bad guy. “Though it should be a rather quick talk. You normally pick Bianca up from school, right? Would you mind staying a few minutes later than usual today?”

“No, that should be just fine,” Will told her.

“Great! Then I will see you after school today,” the teacher said cheerily. “Have a wonderful afternoon, Doctor Solace!” And she hung up the phone.

Will frowned down at his blank phone screen for a few moments, already dreading the conversation that wouldn’t even happen for a few more hours. He turned the screen back on and called Nico, tapping his foot anxiously as he waited for an answer.

“What’s up, Cowboy?” Nico teased upon answering.

“The school called,” Will told him. “Bi’s teacher wants us to talk to her this afternoon. I think I’ll have to leave work early, but can you meet me there?”

“Of course, Sunshine. Did she say what it’s about?”

Will shook his head despite knowing Nico couldn’t see him. “She doesn’t want Bi in the room, so I think it’s bad news.” He took a steadying breath. “What if she has to repeat the first grade? She’s gonna _hate_ me if she hears it from me.”

“She’s not gonna hear it from you,” Nico assured him, “because she’s not gonna have to repeat the year. She’s gonna be fine, you remember the last time we talked to her teacher. It was all _good_ news. And, if it comes to it, which it _won’t,_ I’ll tell Bianca, so you don’t have to. Sound good?”

Will exhaled. “Thank you, Nico.”

 

They met with Bianca’s teacher a few hours later. Nico arrived a few minutes before Will and waited in his car until he saw Will park a few rows away. They entered the building together, hand in hand, with Nico stroking his thumb across Will’s knuckles in the hope of calming his anxiety. The two of them made their way to Bianca’s classroom and leaned up against the wall opposite the door, constantly reassuring each other that everything would be fine.

The sound of a bell ringing surrounded them, and every door in the hall opened to a flood of first graders. Nico and Will stayed against the wall until the hallway had cleared out, then they stepped into Bianca’s classroom. Bianca and her teacher sat at their respective desks, and both glanced up when Nico and Will entered the room.

“Ah, Doctor Solace, Mr. di Angelo!” the teacher started, rising from her seat and stepping around her desk toward them. She held out a hand to shake theirs. “It’s wonderful to see you both again. Please, take a seat and if you’ll excuse me for just one second…” She walked around them and crouched next to Bianca’s desk. When she stood again, Bianca started packing up her things into her backpack and walked silently out of the room with her head down.

Nico and Will pulled a couple of chairs - tiny ones designed for six year olds - up to the teacher’s desk as she returned to her seat.

“Thank you again for meeting with me on such short notice,” she told him once they were all situated.

“Anything for Bianca,” Will said with a nod, reaching over to subtly lace his fingers with Nico’s.

“Did she do something wrong?” Nico asked, jumping right to the point. “We were worried that her learning disabilities might be holding her back--”

“No, no, of course not,” the teacher cut in, waving a hand dismissively. “I actually wanted to speak to the two of you about that, but for a completely different reason.”

“What do you mean?” Will asked, tightening his hold on Nico’s hand.

“In this past school year, Bianca has made exceptional progress,” the teacher explained. “Her reading level has risen to a third grade level, though she still has some work to do when reading out loud. She’s much more focused in class than had been earlier in the year, and I would have to say that the only thing that she might still need help with is her math skills.”

Will sat frozen. Nico asked, “So she doesn’t have to repeat the first grade?”

“No, absolutely not,” the teacher assured them. “I was concerned a few months ago, but I believe that Bianca shouldn’t have a problem keeping up with the other students. However, the reason that I called you here was not about repeating the class. I do want to suggest that you enroll her in summer school.”

“But you just said she was fine,” Nico said.

“That is true, but I do feel that classes over the summer will ensure that she stays on track,” the teacher explained. “I’m not talking about the whole summer. Perhaps just the month of August, to help her get back into the swing of things.”

“Just one month?” Will asked. “No repeating the class and just a few weeks of summer school?”

“That’s right! I hope you don’t mind that I asked Bianca not to be in the room for this discussion. The kids normally get upset at the thought of summer school, but I truly believe that she will benefit from it.”

“I’m sure she will,” Nico responded. “Thank you so much.”

“It’s not a problem,” the teacher told them. “I’m looking forward to seeing the two of you again at Bianca’s first grade graduation.”

They all stood and shook hands once more before Nico and Will stepped back out into the hallway. They noticed Bianca sitting on the ground against the wall, hands wrapped around her knees.

“Daddy, did I do something wrong?” she asked softly, keeping her eyes down.

Nico crouched down in front of her. “No, Princess, you didn’t do anything wrong,” he told her. Will sat down in front of his daughter and reached out to ruffle her hair.

“Your teacher just wanted to make sure we knew about your last day of school in a few weeks, and how you’re gonna be a second grader soon,” Will told her with a smile. “She said that you’re going to have some of your own classes before everyone else, because she wants you to get a head start.”

“Really?” Bianca asked.

“Really, Princess,” Nico said. “Now, how about we go get you a brand new dress to wear for your class party?”

“And we can go out for dinner,” Will said with a nod. “Wherever you wanna go, okay?”

“Okay!”

 

* * *

 

Will sometimes forgot about the ring on his finger until it glinted in the light, or one of his patients or coworkers pointed it out to him. Then, he would smile and he would talk and talk and _talk_ about his fiance, and nothing could get him to stop. A lot of his patients would comment about what a strange engagement ring it was - silver, not gold; a skull instead of a diamond - though Will never thought much of it. Nico had told him that it was important to him, and it was important to Will.

One day, one of Will’s patients - the sweetest old lady he had ever met - struck up a conversation with him about his engagement. When he told her the story of the impromptu proposal at breakfast, she seemed almost offended.

“You proposed without a ring?” she asked. “Of course he didn’t accept! You have to get that boy a ring! Or else somebody might snatch him right out of your hands.”

Will laughed. “I don’t think anybody’s gonna be snatching him away from me. I wouldn’t let them.”

“That’s not the point, sweetie, it’s bad luck if he doesn’t have a ring!”

That took Will by surprise. “Is it, really?”

“Well, it’s unlucky for a lady to go without a ring, but I’m not sure how that would work with your situation. But wouldn’t you rather be safe, than sorry?”

“Of course,” Will told her. “You’re right. I’ll get him a ring on my way home tonight. Now, let’s get you ready for your surgery, okay?”

Then, though, he couldn’t get her words out of his head. Aside from just the risk of bad luck, shouldn’t Will get Nico a ring _just because?_ Especially after he’d given up his own.

When he left work that evening, he sent Nico a quick text to let him know he’d be home a little bit later than he’d thought, and then searched for the nearest jewelry store.

 

The next morning, Nico woke up to the feeling of lips on his neck, his shoulder, teeth biting gently into his ear. Nico hummed, tilting his head and offering a better angle for kissing. “Good morning,” Nico whispered, feeling Will’s hand travel up his chest.

“I have something I want to give you,” Will told him softly before pulling away completely.

Nico’s eyes cracked open, squinting at the clock on the nightstand, and groaned. “Will,” he started, rolling onto his back. “I don’t want to have sex at six-thirty in the morning.”

Will laughed, pressing a kiss to Nico’s cheek and setting something on his stomach. “Good thing that’s not what I meant.”

Nico eyed the tiny box on his stomach as Will rolled out of bed. “Will, what is this?”

“It’s a box that you have to open to see what’s inside,” Will answered. “I’m gonna go take a shower.”

Will was out of the room before Nico sat up to turn on the bedside lamp, holding the box carefully in his hands. He flipped open the lid, eyes landing on a gold band with a simple golden sun attached. It was incredibly similar to the silver ring that Will now wore on his finger.

Nico flung himself out of bed, racing across the hall to the bathroom and bursting inside. The water was already running, and Nico could hear Will humming an unfamiliar tune behind the shower curtain.

“Will,” Nico called over the sound of the water, moving further into the bathroom to pull back the curtain.

“Yes?” Will asked innocently, hair already full of suds.

Nico held up his hand, showing off the golden ring already situated on his finger. “Is this supposed to make up for your shitty proposal?”

Will shrugged. “I thought it was pretty decent, but if that’s what you think--”

Nico reached up, tangling his fingers in Will’s soapy hair and tugging him down for a kiss. “Consent is important, remember,” Nico told him when he pulled back. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

Will pouted. “I didn’t even get to ask that time.”

Nico rolled his eyes. “Do you want me to marry you or not, Sunshine?”

“Of course I do,” Will told him with a blinding smile, darting forward for another kiss. “Can I finish my shower now?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> march is reading month so here's a second update this month ((also since i forgot to post february's chapter on time whoops)) anyway its slightly shorter than average but having this chapter on its own instead of being combined with another one is going to up the total chapter count for this fic!! so,, thats great!! enjoy!!

Nico called Annabeth as he started packing up a suitcase for him and Will. The three of them would be leaving for California with Hazel and Frank the next morning to introduce Frank and Will to Nico’s father, and Nico had _no idea_ how to orchestrate a _meet the parents._ Meeting Will’s dad hadn’t exactly gone well, and Nico knew that his own father wasn’t going to be a peach, but he could only hope that there wouldn’t be any punches thrown - it would likely be a close call.

Seeing as Annabeth had had to introduce her mother and Percy, Nico figured she would give the best advice on how to handle a potentially dangerous situation.

“You’re taking Will home to meet your dad?” Annabeth asked, obviously surprised. “I didn’t realize things had gotten so serious already.”

“Yeah, well, I had a pretty shitty run-in with _his_ dad, so I figured I’d repay the favor,” Nico said with a roll of his eyes as he opened up the closet. “Anyway, do you have any advice? I know your mom hates Percy, so I’m sure _that_ first meeting wasn’t great.”

“There was quite a bit of name-calling,” Annabeth admitted, “but I wasn’t about to let her take any kind of control over my life, you know? She wasn’t around when I was growing up, so she doesn’t get a say in what I do as an adult, and I told her that. I made it clear that I was just showing her a basic courtesy in introducing her to my boyfriend before we got married, and I told her that if she continued to treat Percy like shit, then she wouldn’t be invited to the wedding.”

Nico stared into the closet as he thought. Should he pack nice clothes in case he was expected to go to Mass? “So, is that what I should say to my dad?”

“You’re an adult, Nico. I can’t tell you what you should say any more than your dad can,” Annabeth said. “I know how terribly your dad treated you when you were a teenager, but you don’t have to sit back and take it anymore. You need to make it clear that you and Will are together, and don’t even give him the _chance_ to give you shit about it.”

Nico turned away from the closet, deciding against packing any dress clothes. “Oh, and I guess I should let you know that Will and I are engaged.”

“Yeah, I figured. Congrats, by the way.”

“What do you mean, _you figured?_ I was expecting you to be surprised!”

“You and Hazel swore you would never go back there unless you were both engaged. If I remember correctly, you even said something about needing _protection_ from your dad.”

“I forgot that other people knew about that.”

“Hey, since you’re going to California, you should try to meet up with Reyna. I bet she’d love to see you, and maybe introducing Will to her will be good practice, and you’ll be less nervous to introduce him to your dad.”

“Are you kidding me? I’m _more_ anxious about Reyna and Will meeting than anything else. My dad’s just gonna take one look at Will and say he disapproves, or something, but _Reyna?_ She’ll grill him within an inch of his life!”

“She’ll just want to make sure Will’s treating you right,” Annabeth teased.

Nico rolled his eyes. “It’s not like LA and San Francisco are anywhere near each other, anyway. I think it’d be pretty hard for us to meet up.”

“It wouldn’t hurt to try.”

Nico sighed. “Fine. I’ll text her. Anyway, thanks for the advice. I gotta finish packing before Will gets home, but I’ll let you know how everything goes.”

“Looking forward to it. Bye, Nico. Love you.”

“Uh huh.”

Nico ended the call and went to Bianca’s room to make sure she was packing.

 

Frank and Hazel met them at the Solace household early the next morning so that they could carpool to the airport. They had a very early flight, which mean that they had to be to the airport before the sun had even risen, and both Bianca and Will were still practically asleep as they loaded into the backseat of Hazel’s car. Nico had barely slept the night before, too anxious about the plane ride and seeing his father, and had already been awake when Will’s alarm went off.

Nico crammed into the backseat with Will and Bianca, their suitcases piled into the trunk, and they drove off to the airport. It was Will and Bianca’s first time on a plane, so Bianca had gotten the window seat with Will in the middle so that Nico could be as far from the window as possible.

Will set his hand over Nico’s where he was gripping the armrest so tight that his knuckles had turned white. “Are you going to be alright, Darling?”

Nico pressed his head back against the seat. “I hate planes.”

“We didn’t have to do this,” Will told him.

The plane rocked gently as they hit a small patch of turbulence, and Nico squeezed his eyes shut. “I owe it to my teenage self.”

Will stroked his thumb across the back of Nico’s hand. “How so?”

Nico groaned, gritting his teeth. “I don’t know!”  
“Okay, sorry,” Will said with a chuckle, pressing a kiss to the side of Nico’s head. “Why don’t you try to sleep? It might make the flight easier on you.”

“I don’t think I could.”

“Just try.” Will patted his shoulder with his free hand. “I’ve got the perfect pillow for you right here.”

“Your bony shoulder?”

“It’s not that bony!” Will argued. “Just...sleep. We’ll be on the ground in no time.”

With a huff, Nico leaned against Will’s side and moved his death-grip from the arm rest to Will’s bicep. Will pressed a kiss to the top of Nico’s head, and after a few moments Nico’s hold on him relaxed as he started to fall asleep.

He managed to sleep until the plane started its descent, and held Will’s hand so tightly he started losing feeling in his fingers until the wheels stopped rolling on the runway and Nico finally let go.

From landing to exiting the plane to collecting their suitcases from baggage claim, nearly an hour had passed. Nico had been about to call his dad or maybe a cab, whichever he got an answer from first, but then Hazel pointed something out across the entryway.

“Does that sign say _di Angelo?”_ she asked, pointing to a man in a suit who was holding up a sign.

“Your dad sent a car for us?” Will asked.

Nico scoffed. “He couldn’t even pick us up himself.” He grabbed the handle of his suitcase with one hand and Bianca’s hand with the other, and started leading the group toward the driver.

Thankfully, he’d sent the small limo - both because the bigger one was always embarrassing, and because there had always been the chance they wouldn’t all fit in a smaller car. “I always forget that you come from money,” Frank said as the driver opened the door for them.

“Is this the normal treatment?” Will asked.

“Just be happy he sent the smaller limo,” Hazel said as she climbed into the car, and Nico smiled. As much as he was dreading seeing his father, he was glad he had Hazel there with him. “I’m sure you can imagine how embarrassing it was for me to get picked up from summer camp in a stretch limo.”

“That must’ve been tough on you, honey,” Frank teased as he followed her inside.

As Will and Bianca took their seats, Nico brought their suitcases to the trunk for the driver to put away before he climbed inside the limo, shutting the door behind himself.

The car started to pull away from the curb, and Will asked, “So, is there any last-minute information on your dad you forgot to share that we should know?”

Nico slumped against Will’s side. “If you see him drinking, don’t go near him. Actually, if he starts drinking then we’re leaving. We’ll get a hotel, or something.”

Will wrapped an arm around Nico and pressed a comforting kiss to the side of his head. “Anything else?”

“How should we address him?” Frank asked. “Mr. di Angelo? Or...his first name? What _is_ his first name?”

“Don’t even bother addressing him,” Nico said at the same time that Hazel replied, “I think _sir_ would probably be best.”

“What about your stepmom?” Frank asked.

“Oh, she’s great!” Hazel said with a smile. “She’ll be there now, but Dad probably has to work today, so hopefully he won’t be home until later.”

It was lunchtime when they arrived at Nico’s giant childhood home. As the driver removed their suitcases from the trunk, Nico pulled Will aside and hugged him.

“Thank you for doing this,” he said softly. “Thank you for coming here with me. But… Before we go in there, before anything happens, I want to tell you that I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s gonna happen, or how I’m gonna act, but if I say anything, or _do_ anything-- If I snap at you--” Nico groaned and buried his face in Will’s chest. “Don’t hate me for it. Whatever happens, please don’t hate me afterwards.”

Will kissed the top of his head. “I could never hate you, Darling.”

Nico took a deep breath and said, “Okay. Let’s go.”

They grabbed their suitcases, and with Frank, Hazel, and Bianca, they made their way into the house. Nico didn’t bother knocking before he stepped inside and called out, “Hello? Seph?”

He expected to hear the clicking of high-heeled shoes coming toward them, but instead heard soft-soled shoes until his father was standing in front of them.

Will watched as Nico wiped all emotion from his face as he met eyes with his father.

“No hello for your own father?” he asked.

“Hi, Dad,” Hazel replied, as Nico said, “Hello, Hades.”

Hades’s eyes narrowed at his son. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to these others?”

Hazel stepped forward, pulling Frank with her by the hand, and said, “Dad, this is Frank, my fiance.”

Frank held out his free hand. “Hello, sir, it’s nice to meet you,” he said as he shook Hades’s hand.

Hades turned to Nico expectantly.

Nico gestured to Will and said, “This is Will.” Then he set a hand on Bianca’s shoulder and brought her out from behind her father. “And this is his daughter, Bianca.”

Hades’s eyes widened, obviously startled as he stared down at the little girl, but quickly school his features. He cleared his throat before he spoke. “Persephone is setting the table for lunch. Please show Will to the guest room--”

“We’re engaged.”

Hades appeared to deflate, and the look on his face could only be described as _disappointment._ “I’ll see you for lunch.”

With that, he turned and walked away.

Will reached forward and squeezed Nico’s hand. “That could’ve been worse, right?”

“I doubt it,” Nico replied, and tugged at Will’s hand. “C’mon, let’s take our stuff upstairs.”

The five of them went up the stairs, dragging their suitcases along behind them, and parted ways to separate bedrooms. Nico and Will left their suitcase in Nico’s childhood bedroom before dropping Bianca’s off in the nearest guest room.

Hazel and Frank were already at the table with Hades and Persephone once they’d made it back downstairs and into the dining room. Persephone stood from her seat with a smile when she saw them enter.

“You must be Will!” she said, and shook his hand. “It’s wonderful to meet you.” She looked down to find Bianca, and crouched down to shake her hand as well. “And Bianca, it’s so nice to meet you, too!” When she straightened again, she said, “Please, take your seats! It’s been so long since I’ve heard from you, I can’t _wait_ to hear what you’ve been up to!”

As Nico, Will, and Bianca sat down at the table, Hazel said, “We wanted to come down to let you both know that Frank and I are engaged.”

“And so are we,” Will tagged on.

Persephone gasped, glancing between the two couples. “That’s fantastic! How did it happen? Who asked who? Oh, I just _love_ proposal stories! And Hazel, you must have a ring, right? Let me see!”

“Oh, no ring,” Hazel said. “And it’s not much of a story, either.”

“I just graduated from West Point,” Frank told her. “I moved into Hazel’s apartment after school ended, and we started talking about marriage and agreed that we’re on the same page. So, we’re engaged, just without the ring or the proposal.”

_“Very_ modern of you,” Persephone said, and turned to Nico and Will across the table. “And what about you? Nico, I didn’t even know you were seeing anybody! You should’ve told us when we called on your birthday.”

Nico tried his best not to sink down in his chair as he muttered, “We weren’t together yet.”

Will cleared his throat. “We had had a few conversations about getting married someday, and we were on the same page, or at least I’d _thought_ we were, but then I got down on my knees at breakfast one morning and asked, and Nico said _no--”_

Nico felt himself starting to smile. “I didn’t say _no,_ I--”

Hades cleared his throat from where he sat at the end of the table, and stood up. “Excuse me.” He turned on his heel and walked out of the room, and Nico felt the smile drop from his face.

Will grabbed Nico’s hand, and tried to carry on. “I asked, and he said no, but I think that’s just because he wanted to be the one to ask.”

Nico tried to listen, tried to contribute to the conversation for the rest of the meal, but his anger was keeping him from focusing on anything for too long. By the time they’d all finished eating, Hades still hadn’t returned to the table, and Nico was certain that it was because of him - because of _Will._

Nico offered to take their empty dishes into the kitchen, and dropped them in the sink before he started toward his father’s office. He could see Hades sitting at his desk through the glass doors.

Nico knocked, not waiting for a response before he walked inside. He stood in the doorway for a moment in silence, though Hades never acknowledged him. “You missed lunch. And hearing about my engagement.”

“Seems I have,” Hades replied, not looking up from the papers on his desk.

Nico crossed his arms. “Do you even have an excuse?”

“I had to take a phone call.”

“Your phone wasn’t ringing.”

“It was on silent.”

“Just admit that you hate the idea of your son marrying another man!” Nico shouted, and tensed at the volume of his own voice. He gripped his t-shirt in his fist to avoid digging his nails into his own arm, and ducked his head when Hades finally turned to look at him.

“I don’t have a problem with it,” Hades said, fighting to keep the volume of his voice under control, “I’m just a little surprised!”

“What’s so surprising? You never thought your emotionally stunted son would ever find someone?”

“I’m _surprised_ because you nearly stopped speaking to me after your sister died. Your birthday was the first time you’d spoken to me since you moved as far away as you possibly could without leaving the country, and for an hour-long phone call, you still barely said a word! Now you just _show up_ at my doorstep with a _fiance_ and a _daughter_ who looks _exactly_ like your _dead sister,_ and you never even told me you were _gay!”_

Nico’s jaw dropped. “My _whole life,_ I only ever talked about _Percy Jackson!_ How did you not realize I was gay?”

Hades pinched the bridge of his nose and heaved a sigh. “I just want to be included in your life, Nico. I’m your _father,_ and I love you, and I _miss_ you, and I want to see you more than once every three years.”

“Then why don’t you act like it?” Nico spat. “You refused to even _acknowledge me_ for months after Bianca died! Oh, except for when you were drunk, and then you were taking swings at me! You don’t _hit_ the people you _love!”_

“Which is why I got sober!” Hades shouted, and Nico startled back a few steps, flinching like he was afraid of being hit even from across the room. Hades had lowered his voice when he continued by saying, “I haven’t had a drink in over a year. I called you on your birthday to make amends, but I couldn’t get the words out, so I kept stalling until you hung up on me--”

“I didn’t. There was a snowstorm.”

“--but I wanted to apologize.”

“Then do it. Right now. Apologize.”

Hades opened his mouth and shut it again without saying a word. He took a breath a tried again, but still no sound came out.

“That’s what I thought.”

Nico turned and left Hades’s office, leaving the door open behind him. He wandered the main floor until he found the others relaxing in the living room. Persephone was in an armchair and Frank and Hazel were sharing the loveseat. Bianca appeared to be playing a game on Will’s phone as she sat on one end of the couch, and Will sat on the other end with one arm draped over the back of the couch, almost like an invitation.

Nico sat down beside him, feeling as though he was shaking like a leaf, and hadn’t even noticed that he was scratching at his own arm until Will pulled his hand away. He pressed a kiss to Nico’s knuckles before intertwining their fingers. “Are you alright, Darling?” he whispered, and Nico shook his head. He curled up against Will’s side and tried to listen to the conversation around him.

 

Nico had successfully managed to avoid seeing his father for the rest of the day - aside from one very tense family dinner - and was getting ready for bed when Hazel dragged him back downstairs and into the living room. Hades was pacing in front of the couch, and looked up when the two entered the room. Nico tried to turn around and leave, but Hazel kept a strong grip on his wrist and forced him to sit next to her on the couch.

“Thank you, Hazel, for bringing him,” Hades said, and Nico rolled his eyes and he slumped back against the couch with crossed arms.

“I would’ve fought harder if I’d known what this was about.”

Hazel squeezed his hand in warning, so Nico shut his mouth.

Hades sat down awkwardly on the coffee table in front of them, and folded his hands on his lap. He took a breath and said, “When the two of you left, it broke my heart. I realized how poorly I’d treated the both of you over the years, and knew that I needed to change in order to get back on your good side - if I ever was in the first place. It was a long and difficult road, but I’ve officially been sober for a little over a year now. It’s important to my sobriety that I make amends to the people I’ve hurt in the past, and for the good of our family, I would like to apologize to you both. I acted out after Bianca’s death, and I treated you both so terribly. Nico, I am so sorry that I blamed you for her death, and for every time I hit you--”

“You _hit him?”_ Hazel hissed, but this time Nico squeezed her hand to hold her back. Now that Hades was finally talking, Nico wanted to hear what he had to say.

Hades continued, “And I want to apologize for my behavior today. You fiances didn’t deserve that treatment, and your daughter deserves to have a grandfather… If you’ll have me.”

“That’s not up to me. It’s up to Will.”

“Of course,” Hades said with a nod, and turned to Hazel. “And Frank deserves an apology as well, but you are my children, and I should have said these things to you years ago. I’m not asking for your forgiveness, but I do ask that you accept my amends.”

“Thank you, Dad,” Hazel said, and stood up. She waited until Hades stood as well, and wrapped her arms around him.

Nico stood as well, though he wasn’t about to hug Hades, and tried to sneak off as Hazel left, but Hades stopped him with a, “Nico, wait, please.” He stepped around the coffee table and went to one of the bookshelves built into the wall. He returned with what looked like a photo album, and claimed Hazel’s seat on the couch. Hades stared up at Nico expectantly until he sat back down.

Hades flipped open the cover of the photo album, and the first picture inside was of Bianca and Maria. “This book has every picture of your mother that I have, and just about every picture of Bianca. I thought you would like to have it.” He held out the album until Nico took it from him, and slowly started to flip through the pages.

“Really?” Nico asked, and Hades nodded. “Thanks...Dad.”

Hades set a hand on Nico’s shoulder and smiled. “Goodnight, son.”

He stood and left the room, leaving Nico alone with the photo album. He got lost in his memories as he flipped through the pages, completely forgetting about his plan to sleep until he heard footsteps entering the room.

“You alright, babe?” Will asked as he made his way over to the couch. He leaned against the back, peering over Nico’s shoulder at the book in his lap. “What’s that?”

“A photo album,” Nico answered. “My dad just gave it to me. Come here.” He patted the space next to him, inviting Will to sit, and leaned into his side once he had. Nico set the album between them as he continued to slowly flip through the pages, pointing out pictures and describing the memory behind them.

“This is my mother,” Nico said, pointing to a picture of Maria. She must’ve gotten dressed up for something, because in the photo she was wearing a black cocktail dress with a full face of makeup.

“She’s beautiful,” Will commented. “You look just like her.”

Nico blushed. Had Will just called him _beautiful?_ He flipped the page again, and heard Will gasp beside him. He picked up the album and brought it closer to his face as if it would give him a better look on a perfectly clear picture.

“That looks like…”

“Bianca,” Nico finished for him.

“Yeah, but--”

“That’s my sister,” Nico said, “Bianca.”

Will stared at him with wide eyes, his mouth dropping open like he wanted to speak, but no words were coming out. When Nico started to laugh, Will finally said, “They look _exactly_ the same.”

“Not _exactly,”_ Nico replied. “Bi has more freckles, and her hair is a little bit lighter.”

“How come you never told me? I mean, you _had_ to notice, right?”

“Yeah, of course. The first second I saw her, I noticed, and it freaked me out. Same with my dad.”

_“Nico,”_ Will said, dropping his gaze back to the photo, “how can two unrelated people look _so similar?”_

“I don’t know, but I think you’re worrying about this a little too much,” Nico said with a smile. “I think you need to get some sleep, because I know I do.”

Will sighed. “You’re right, let’s go to bed.” He stood up and set the album on the coffee table before he took Nico’s hand and pulled him up off the couch.

 

When Will finally managed to drag Nico out of bed and downstairs for breakfast, Nico saw Hades pulling Frank into the next room, and he realized that Will would probably be next in line for an amends. Nico led Will straight past the dining room and into the kitchen in the hope that he could hide Will for a little while longer in order to prepare him for what was about to come.

When they got to the kitchen, they found Hazel at the stove and Bianca sitting on the island.

“What’s going on?” Nico asked as Will said good morning to his daughter.

“Hazel’s making eggs for me,” Bianca answered.

“We’re not really sure _what_ Seph made for breakfast,” Hazel elaborated, “so I didn’t want to risk letting Bianca eat it.”

“Thank you,” Will replied.

Nico stepped up to the stove and spoke quietly in the hope that only Hazel would hear him when he said, “So, Dad’s talking to Frank.”

Hazel bit her lip before saying, “I know. I think it’ll be fine, but I’m a little nervous.”

“Will’s probably next, right?”

“I would think so.”

“Next for what?” Will asked, and Nico winced. “Should I be concerned?”

“Probably not,” Hazel replied.

Nico cleared his throat. “Um. Dad got sober, and he’s going around making amends. He’s probably coming to you next.”

“Oh. Oh! Well, that’s great, right? And that means he talked to both of you already, so you’ve accepted his amends and you can move past it now.” Nico and Hazel shared a look. “You _did_ accept his amends, right? It’s important to his sobriety that you do that. It’s really difficult for someone to put themselves out there during an amends, and you don’t have to forgive them but you _have_ to accept the amends.”

Nico dropped his gaze and crossed his arms. “Yeah, uh. I guess I probably should do that.”

Bianca pulled on Will’s sleeve to get his attention. “Daddy, what’s an amends?”

“It’s sort of like a fancy apology,” Will answered.

“What makes it fancy?”

Will took a breath. “You have to...take special classes to learn how to do it.”

“Oh. Sounds boring.”

“But it’s important to apologize to people because it will help you to remember not to do the same thing over again.”

Nico huffed. “Alright, I’ll go accept his amends.”

As he left the kitchen, Hazel turned off the stove and announced, “Eggs are ready!”

Will raised an eyebrow at her. “Did _you_ accept his amends?”

“I said _thank you,_ isn’t that good enough?”

“Maybe, maybe not.”

Hazel groaned. _“God,_ you’re such a _dad.”_ She followed after Nico to find Hades, and passed Frank in the hallway. He smiled and offered a thumbs-up, so Hazel figured it couldn’t have been too bad.

She had to follow the sound of Nico’s voice in order to find them.

“I don’t forgive you,” she heard him say as she rounded the corner, finally spotting them just outside of Hades’s office, “and I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive you, but I...accept your amends.”

Hades smiled, though it came off rather sad. “Thank you, Nico.”

“You probably want to talk to Will now, right?” Nico asked, and Hades nodded. “I’ll go get him.”

He turned to head back to the kitchen, nodding at Hazel as he passed. He heard Hazel accept Hades’s amends just before he was out of earshot, and soon found Will just where he’d left him. “It’s your turn,” he said. “He’s waiting for you by his office.”

“And where’s that?” Will asked.

“By the door to the garden.”

Will sighed. “Babe, I couldn’t find the front door right now if I tried. I didn’t know there _was_ a garden.”

“Down the hall, turn right, it’s the glass doors on your left.”

“Thank you.” He pressed a kiss to Nico’s forehead before he left the room.

Will followed Nico’s directions until he found himself, for the first time, alone with Hades. “Hello, sir,” he greeted. “You wanted to talk to me?”

“Yes, I--” he cleared his throat, visibly uncomfortable. “I’m sure Nico has shared with you how horribly I used to treat him, and I hope he has told you that I tried to reconnect with him last night after making an amends. I’m about a year sober, you see--”

“I know, Nico told me,” Will said, hoping to ease Hades’s discomfort.

“I want to apologize to you for my behavior yesterday. I had no right to treat you as coldly as I did, and I hope you can forgive me for that.”

“Thank you, sir. I accept your apology,” Will replied.

“I wanted to congratulate you on your engagement, as well. It’s clear to me that you make my son very happy, and after everything he’s been through - after everything _I’ve_ put him through - he deserves all the happiness in the world. Thank you for taking care of him when I could not.”

 

* * *

 

 

At the end of the weekend, the five of them were more than ready to leave. Nico had made sure to pack up the night before so that they could leave quickly after waking up, though Will seemed to have a different plan.

As Nico tried to stand up to get dressed, Will pulled him back down into the bed. “Will, we have a plane to catch.”

“Actually, there’s been a slight change of plans,” Will told him, wrapping an arm around his waist to keep him from going anywhere. “We’re not leaving with Frank and Hazel.”

“Will, I am _not_ staying here any longer than I absolutely have to, and that timer runs out in about half an hour.”

“We’re still leaving before lunch, we’re just taking a different flight back home. Our flight has a layover. In Nashville. For two days.”

“Two _days?”_

“I want you to meet my mom.”

Nico relaxed and tensed up again in under a second. “Your mom? Really?”

“Yeah, _really._ I just spent the whole weekend with your dad and stepmom. I’m in your childhood bedroom _right now,_ of _course_ I want you to meet my mom,” Will said with a chuckle. He pressed himself closer and knocked his forehead gently against Nico’s. “We’re gonna get married someday, and if my mom gets an invitation without ever meeting you, she’s gonna be pissed. I’d never hear the end of it.”

“Nobody’s ever brought me home to meet their mom before,” Nico said softly. “Do you think she’ll like me?”

“She’s going to _love_ you,” Will assured him, and leaned in for a kiss. _“Almost_ as much as I do, but _nobody_ could love you like I do.”

Nico frowned. “Careful, that almost sounded like an insult.”

“What? How?”

“You made it sound like I’m unlovable.”

“No I didn’t! I said that I love you so much that nobody could ever compete with me!”

“You said that nobody could ever love me--”

“That’s not what I said, and you know it!” Nico snorted, and Will gasped. “You’re doing this on purpose! Do you think it’s _fun_ to get me all riled up?”

“Maybe. You’re cute when you’re trying to prove your love for me.”

“Oh, I’ll show you _cute,”_ Will said, and rolled himself on top of his fiance as he started to pepper his face with kisses.

 

Nico was just as fidgety and anxious as the last time he’d gotten on a plane, and had just about broken every bone in Will’s hand when they hit a rough patch of turbulence.

“I can’t believe you’re making me do this a _third time,”_ Nico complained as he squeezed his eyes shut and slammed his head back against the seat. _“I hate planes.”_

“If I’d known about your fear of flying, then I wouldn’t have planned for this,” Will told him. “But it’s too late now.”

“I hate you,” Nico groaned.

“No you don’t.”

“Well, I don’t like you very much.”

“You love me.”

“Just because I love you doesn’t mean I have to like you.”

Due to the time change and their later flight, the plane landed around ten at night, and after getting off the plane, picking up their bags from baggage claim, and finding a cab, they didn’t even leave the airport until eleven.

Bianca fell asleep in the cab, so when they finally arrived at Naomi Solace’s house, Nico had to carry her to the door while Will collected their suitcases. Will let them in without knocking by using the spare key his mother kept under a rock near the door, hoping that he wouldn’t accidentally wake Naomi as they settled in for the night.

They’d barely made it into the house before a light turned on in the hallway. A woman came around the corner into the entryway, pulling a bathrobe on over her pajamas, and squinting to see in the dark. “Will, honey, is that you?”

“Hi, Mama,” Will whispered, stepping forward and pulling Naomi into a hug.

“You scared me half to death! What are you doing here?” She pushed herself away and stepped around Will as she said, “Where’s my favorite little girl?”

When Nico met Naomi’s gaze, he wanted to shrink down and hide.

“Will,” Naomi said to her son, though she kept her gaze locked on Nico as she spoke, “Aren’t you going to introduce us?”

Will was at Nico’s side in a second, placing an arm around his waist carefully so as to not disturb Bianca who was still asleep in Nico’s arms. “Mama, this is Nico.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Solace,” Nico said.

“Oh, honey, please, call me Naomi.” She glanced between them for a moment, her face twisted up in confusion. Finally, she said, “Well, as much as I would love to stay up and chat, I think we all ought to head off to bed. Will, I’m sure you can get yourselves settled in.”

“Of course. We’ll see you in the morning.” Will hugged Naomi once more before she ventured back into the house.

Will kicked off his shoes before taking Bianca from Nico so that he could do the same, and led Nico further into the house. He put Bianca to bed in her old room - it looked just like it had when they’d left - before taking Nico across the hall to Will’s room.

“I think that went well,” Will told him as he shut the door behind them.

“Really?” Nico asked. “She looked surprised, and not really in a good way.”

Will walked toward him and wrapped his arms around Nico. “So, I probably should’ve told her we were coming, but I wanted to surprise her. I don’t think it went _poorly,_ do you?”

“It could’ve been better! Did your mom know that you’re bi?”

Will frowned. “Of course she did. Why would you think she didn’t?”

“She didn’t look _happy,_ and--” Nico took a breath. “Okay, so, _apparently,_ I never told my dad I was gay. I thought I did!” he said quickly before Will could interrupt. “But I guess I didn’t. I don’t know how he didn’t catch on even without me telling him, but--”

“You brought me home to meet your dad who thought you were straight,” Will said, and in a second he started to laugh. “What a way to come out, huh?”

Nico rolled his eyes. “Alright, well, it’s not _that_ funny.”

“It kind of is.” Will dropped his head to rest against Nico’s. “I promise you, my mom knows I’m bi. I told her when I was in high school, and she… She was quiet, but she wasn’t _upset.”_

“So she most likely won’t throw me out of the house when she finds out we’re engaged?”

Will shrugged. “Probably not.”

“You’re not making me feel any better about this.”

 

Will had woken up early and had found his mom in the kitchen making breakfast. He’d tried to help, but just like Nico, Naomi refused to let Will anywhere near the stove. Bianca woke up just in time for breakfast, and when they sat down to eat, Naomi started asking about Nico - mainly about where he was.

After breakfast, Naomi decided to go on a grocery run, and Bianca volunteered to go with her. As soon as they left, Will returned to his old bedroom to check on Nico, only to see that he was already awake and scrolling through his phone.

Will walked up to him and knelt beside the bed, resting his chin on the mattress and waiting for Nico to set his phone aside. “Good morning,” he said when Nico finally met his gaze. “You missed breakfast. Are you alright?”

“What if your mom doesn’t like me?” Nico whispered.

“She won’t like you at all if you never get out of bed,” Will replied. “She’s gonna think you’re lazy, and then you’ll never get on her good side.”

“You’re terrible at this, did you know that?”

“C’mon, get up. Mom took Bi to the store, so we have the place to ourselves for a little while. Come get breakfast, and when they get back, I’ll help you convince my mom of how amazing you are.”

“Fine,” Nico said with a huff.

They went out to the kitchen where Nico reheated the leftover french toast that Naomi had made, and after he ate, the two of them went to the living room to watch some TV while they waited for Naomi and Bianca to return. After spending the weekend in Nico’s giant childhood home, he found comfort in the smaller size of Naomi’s house - it felt like the perfect environment to raise family, unlike the immaculate mansion in which he’d been raised. It was cozier here, and even with his spiked anxiety, Nico felt more comfortable in Naomi’s living room than he’d felt the entire weekend at his father’s house.

After a while, Nico heard the front door creak open, and Naomi called out, “Will, honey, is Nico awake yet?”

“Yeah, Mama, he’s right here,” Will answered, and Nico tensed. Will pulled him close on the couch and wound an arm around him, pressing a kiss to the side of his head.

“Oh, good, can you come help me with the dishes, dear?”

“Be right there.” Will was already standing when Naomi came around the corner.

“Oh, sorry, Will, I meant Nico,” she said with a smile in Nico’s direction. “If you’re that eager to help, Will, then you and Bianca can unpack all the groceries we just picked up.”

The kitchen was a little cramped with all four of them in there, but Nico was a lot more comfortable knowing that he wasn’t alone.

As Naomi started to fill the sink with water, she asked, “Now, honey, why don’t you tell me a little bit about yourself?”

Nico hesitated. “What do you want to know?” Will was trying to give him an encouraging smile over his mother’s shoulder, but it wasn’t making Nico feel any better.

“Anything you want to tell me,” she said. “Where are you from? How old are you? Where did you go to college? Ooh, and how did the two of you meet?”

As Naomi began washing the dishes from breakfast, Nico grabbed a towel to dry up after her. “Alright, well, uh. I was born in Venice, Italy, but I grew up in Los Angeles, then I moved to New York when I was twenty. I took all of my college classes online, so that all the moving around wouldn’t interfere with them, and I’m still waiting on my final grades from this last semester to see if I graduated. And, uh, I’m twenty-three, but we met when I was twenty-two.”

“Twenty-three?” Naomi repeated, eyeing her son. “I didn’t take you as a cradle-robber, William.”

_“Mama,_ please,” Will whined, but perked up as soon as he saw Nico smiling.

“Now, tell me how the two of you met,” Naomi demanded, turning her gaze back to Nico.

Nico paused, biting his lip before he answered. “I was a creative writing major, and I was kind of in a rut with my writing. One of my friends suggested I go on one of those babysitter websites to see if taking care of someone’s kid would give me inspiration.”

“And he was the best babysitter I ever hired,” Will said dreamily as he put a few boxes away on a high shelf.

“You were Bianca’s babysitter?” Naomi asked in a tone that was making Nico nervous, and she raised an eyebrow at him.

“At first, yes,” Nico stuttered.

Will crossed the kitchen to press a kiss to Nico’s cheek before he said, “He won me over with his cooking and great sense of humor.”

“Of course, always about the food with you,” Naomi said, and while Will shot her a hurt look, Nico was starting to like her. “What was it that did him in? Brownies? He can’t say no to brownies.”

“Trust me, I know,” Nico said. “I made him a chocolate lava cake for his birthday.”

Naomi gasped. “I don’t know how he didn’t marry you on the spot.”

“I’m _hurt,_ Mama,” Will said as Nico started to laugh. “I can’t believe this, the two people I love most - besides you, Bi, of course I love you the most - treating me in such a way. I won’t stand for it. C’mon, Bi.” Will took Bianca out of the kitchen, leaving Nico alone with Naomi.

Nico took a breath. He supposed now was as good a time as ever. He checked over his shoulder to make sure that Will had actually left before he cleared his throat and said, “Ms. Solace?”

“Naomi, honey, call me Naomi.”

“Of course, Naomi,” Nico tried again. “This is… This might sound a bit strange and old fashioned, but I was hoping for your permission-- Your _blessing_ to marry your son.”

Naomi shut off the water and set down the sponge she’d been using to scrub dishes. She turned to Nico with a sigh and a, _“Honey,”_ and Nico prepared himself to be let down easy. “You don’t need my permission. And you had my blessing the second you walked into my house and I saw you treating my granddaughter like she was your own. The only permission you need is Will’s, but it seems like you’re already the person he loves most in the world, so I don’t think you’ll have any problems.”

“Thank you, Naomi,” Nico said.

“You’ve got nothing to thank me for,” she told him. “I should be thanking _you_ for taking such good care of them. When Will got that job in New York, I didn’t know how he was going to survive on his own. If it weren’t for you, he would have run himself into the ground for sure.”

“That’s absolutely right,” Nico said.

“Of course it’s right!” Naomi laughed, but calmed herself down quickly, and when she spoke again she used a much quieter voice. “Now, I couldn’t help but notice the rings the two of you have been wearing. Does that mean…?”

Nico couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah, we’re engaged. Not even for a month yet, but I’m really glad that Will brought me here. It was very important for me to get your blessing.”

“You are the sweetest thing,” Naomi told him. “I can’t believe Will was able to find someone so perfect for him, yet here you are.”

“Mama, I thought you were done embarrassing my when I graduated med school,” Will’s voice came from across the room. Nico whipped around to see him leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed and a soft smile across his lips - he looked like he’d been standing there long enough to get comfortable.

“A mother is never done embarrassing her baby,” Naomi said. She bumped Nico with her shoulder and nodded her head towards Will. “Go on, I can finish these on my own.”

“Are you sure? I don’t mind--”

“It’s _fine_ , honey.” Naomi plucked the towel out of Nico’s hands and shooed him away.

Will lead Nico into the living room where Bianca was watching TV, and they sat together on the couch. “I can’t believe you asked my mom for her _blessing_ ,” Will said quietly as he draped an arm around Nico’s shoulders.

Nico pushed himself about a foot away from him. “ _What?_ How much of that did you hear?”

Will hummed. “Just about all of it. About how you’re so _old fashioned_ and need my mother’s _blessing_ to marry me. About how you kept me from running myself into the ground - which I wouldn’t have done, by the way, I would’ve been fine.”

“You would’ve killed yourself and Bianca, but go on.”

“About how you’re _perfect.”_

“I’m pretty sure that was ‘perfect for you,’ not _perfect_ perfect,” Nico corrected.

_“I’m_ pretty sure you’re _perfect.”_

 

* * *

 

Ever since they’d gotten home, Nico had seemed worn down. He didn’t appear to be sleeping much, and he was yawning constantly. He dragged his feet when he walked and he’d consistently been nodding off on the couch, and Will didn’t know he should be concerned or if Nico was just jetlagged.

When Will tried to ask about it, Nico shrugged him off. “I haven’t gotten my exam grades yet,” Nico told him. “I guess I’m just a little worked up over it. I’ll be fine.”

“If you say so,” Will replied, and kissed Nico’s cheek before heading off to work.

He tried to keep his mind off of it while he was working - Nico said he was fine, and Will needed to trust that he knew how to take care of himself. He checked on patients, assisted in surgeries, had lunch with Lou Ellen when she came to the hospital for physical therapy. It was a long day, relaxing compared to most but long nonetheless, and he wanted nothing more than to return home to his fiance and his daughter.

He texted Nico when he left the hospital, and while he usually got a response almost immediately, he wasn’t concerned when the response never came. It probably just meant that Nico was cooking, and just the thought of dinner made Will’s stomach growl. However, when he walked through the door, he didn’t see Nico in the kitchen, and he didn’t smell anything cooking. He saw Bianca sitting at the table with a box of crayons and a stack of coloring books, and she shushed him when he dropped his keys on the counter.

“Nico’s sleeping,” she stage whispered.

Will frowned. “Is he okay?”

“Yeah, he’s just sleeping. Do you wanna color with me?”

Will hesitated - should he check on Nico, or leave him to rest since he so clearly needed it? - but ended up sitting next to Bianca at the table and claimed a page in one of her coloring books. His stomach growled once more as he started to color, so he said, “Do you want pizza tonight?”

Nico was woken up by a gentle hand on his arm and a soft voice calling his name. He ground the heels of his palms into his eyes as he sat up, unaware that he’d even fallen asleep, and he definitely wasn’t feeling any more rested than he had earlier.

Will was kneeling on the ground in front of the couch, concern written all over his features. “Are you okay?” he asked, pressing the back of his hand to Nico’s forehead, and Nico was confused.

“Of course I am, why?” Nico responded, tugging Will’s hand away.

“You’ve been asleep since before I got home,” Will told him. “Have you not been sleeping well?”

Nico shrugged, and then, as he’d just remembered something important, jumped to his feet. “I never made dinner.”

“We ordered pizza.”

Nico’s shoulders drooped. “Oh. Okay,” he muttered, hand creeping up to grip at his other wrist. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have fallen asleep, I--”

Will snatched Nico’s hand away from his wrist before he could dig his nails into his skin. “You don’t have to apologize, I’m just worried about you.”

“You’ve got enough to worry about, so I should’ve been awake to make dinner,” Nico told him, tugging at Will’s hands. “I’m sorry.”

“Nico--”

The doorbell rang, and Nico squeezed Will’s hands. “I’ll get it,” Nico said, reaching up to peck at Will’s lips before moving away from his fiance.

 

Will had a surgery to study for the next morning, so after Bianca had gone to bed he’d brought out his laptop and patient notes and reviewed the surgical plan until he could recite it in his sleep. He’d glanced over at Nico once or twice during his studying to catch him staring blankly at whatever show was on TV, and saw that he soon started nodding off.

“Babe,” Will said after Nico’s eyes had been closed for a solid minute. “Don’t you think you’d be more comfortable if you went to bed?”

Nico shook his head a rubbed at his eyes, adjusting himself until he was sitting up straighter on the couch. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” Will asked. “Do you want to talk about...something?”

“You’re working. I don’t want to bother you.”

“You’re my _fiance._ You’re _allowed_ to bother me.”

Nico hunched his shoulders up. “I’m fine.”

“Alright, but when I go to bed in a little while, you’re coming with me.”

Nico grumbled something in reply, and Will went back to work. In another twenty minutes or so, he felt confident enough in his memory and comfortable enough that a quick review before the surgery would be all he needed, and he put his work away. When he turned to his side, he saw Nico fast sleep against the arm of the couch.

Will reached over and brushed a bit of hair behind Nico’s ear. It was getting long enough that Will had started to notice a wavy texture to it - he was going to miss those little waves if Nico ever got a haircut.

“Nico,” he said softly. “It’s time for bed, Darling.”

Nico grunted, but didn’t move.

“C’mon, babe, you know you hate sleeping on this couch,” Will tried again. “I’d carry you if I could.”

Nico made another noise of complaint, though this time he sat up and leaned against Will’s side.

“Oh, no. You’re not falling asleep on me now. Stand up, let’s go.” Will stood up and pulled Nico with him before he draped an arm around Nico’s waist to lead him to their bedroom. Nico was asleep once again as soon as his head hit the pillow.

A short while after Will had fallen asleep, Nico sat upright with a gasp, his hands fisted in the sheets and a ringing in his ears. He didn’t remember most of the dream - just like every other nightmare he’d had since returning home - but he knew that the last thing he saw before he opened his eyes was his father swinging an empty bottle of whiskey straight at his head.

He took a few deep breaths as he scrubbed his hands over his face before carefully rising out of bed. He left the room, shutting the door softly behind him, and headed toward the kitchen for a glass of water. As he went to set the glass in the sink, he saw all the unwashed dishes from dinner and felt a surge of guilt rush through him. He couldn’t cook _or_ clean? How could he expect Will to keep him around?

Nico splashed cold water on his face. Thinking that way would only lead to a shame spiral, and he was only thinking that way because he was tired. He should just...wash all of the dishes, and then he could go to bed. It would be the perfect way to get his mind off of his nightmares, and maybe he would be too tired to have any more dreams.

He was midway through scrubbing one of the plates when the faucet shut off and an arm wrapped around his waist. _“Babe._ What are you _doing.”_

“I didn’t do the dishes after dinner,” Nico replied.

“So you thought you would do them at--” Will glanced at the clock on the microwave, “--two-fifteen in the morning?”

“I wasn’t tired,” Nico lied.

_“Babe.”_ Will sighed and dropped his head onto Nico’s shoulder. “I don’t have the time to argue with you. I have a surgery in the morning, and I need to sleep, and I’m not going back to bed without you.”

“I told you, I’m not tired.”

“Come back anyway. It’s better for you to rest even if you’re not going to sleep, they proved it on MythBusters.”

Nico snorted. “Alright, fine.” He set the plate back in the sink and allowed Will to lead him back to bed. He was asleep again in seconds.

 

_“No, no! Please, no!”_

Will’s eyes shot open at the sound of Nico’s shouting. He felt his arm being jostled as Nico reached out for him, and soon Nico’s shouts were replaced with sobs. Will couldn’t see him well in the dark, but he felt as Nico clutched at his shirt and tried to hide his face in Will’s chest.

“Nico?” Will questioned, running his fingers through dark, tangled hair.

“I’m sorry,” Nico hiccuped against Will’s chest. “I didn’t want to wake you, I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Will told him, wrapping his arms around Nico’s shaking form. “What’s wrong, what happened?”

“Bia, it-- She was in the woods, and then in the road, and there were headlights and it wasn’t Bia anymore, it was Bi-- Bianca, I watched that car hit her and--” He choked on his words, clawing at Will’s shoulders and trying to get a grip on something.

“Darling,” Will whispered, holding his fiance closer.

Nico took a breath and continued. “And then I-I was at my dad’s, and someone knocked on the door so I answered it. It was that _asshole drunk,_ b-but Bia wasn’t there. I-it was _you,_ W-Will, and you were _d-dead._ There was s-so m-m-much _blood_ and I could see your eyes, Will--” He heaved a breath, and Will pushed him up until they were both sitting. He switched on the bedside lamp and reached up to frame Nico’s face with his hands.

“Darling, look at me,” Will told him. “Look at my eyes, sweetheart, I’m fine. I’m alive, you’re alive, Bi’s alive. You’re just overtired and stressed, but there’s nothing to worry about, I _promise._ ” He pulled Nico against his chest once again and stroked his hand up and down Nico’s back. “Just try to relax, Darling, everything’s alright.”

“I’m so sorry,” Nico whispered. “I… I didn’t want to worry you, and I know you have surgery, but I--” Nico hiccuped again and wiped at the tears still streaming from his eyes. “I’m so scared that you’ll leave me. _Please don’t leave me._ I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you, Will, please don’t leave me.”

Will tightened his hold on Nico, running his fingers through Nico’s hair once more. “I won’t, Nico, I promise, I _promise.”_ He pressed a kiss to the top of Nico’s had, and held him until Nico’s sobs had finally quieted down. “Let’s lay back down, Darling. It’s still the middle of the night and you and I both need to rest.” He relaxed his hold and allowed Nico to settled back down against the pillows before he shut off the light. Will laid down beside Nico and wrapped him up in his arms once more. “I love you, Nico. I’m not going anywhere.”

 

Will woke up for the third and final time of the morning with the sun shining into the room and his fiance still asleep beside him.

He smiled, appreciating Nico’s peaceful expression, until the alarm clock on his nightstand began to buzz. Will groaned, rolling over and slamming his hand down on the alarm, and turned back to see Nico’s eyes blinking open slowly. Will wrapped an arm around Nico’s waist, pulling him close and tucking his face against Nico’s neck.

“I don’t wanna go to work today,” Will complained against Nico’s skin. Nico hummed, fingers reaching up to tangle in the hairs on the back of Will’s neck. “What if,” Will started, fingers drawing mindless shapes on Nico’s lower back, “I stay home today, and we don’t leave this spot?”

Nico grinned. “I would love to,” he answered as Will started biting gently at his neck. “There’s just one problem. You’ve got a surgery to do today, and a daughter who’s gonna be up in no time and definitely _won’t_ leave us on our own all day.”

Will groaned again, flopping onto his back with a pout. “Why are you always right?”

Nico leaned over him, planting a hand on his chest and swooped down for a kiss. “Someone has to be.”

Will stroked a hand across Nico’s cheek and brushed his hair behind his ear. “Are you feeling better this morning?”

Nico’s smiled turned forced. “A little. You were probably right that I just needed a good night’s sleep.” He lowered himself back to lay beside Will, turned to face him as Will rolled on his side as well.

“I’ve got some time before I need to get ready to go,” Will told him. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Nico dropped his gaze. After a moment or two, he said, “That wasn’t the only nightmare. They’ve been… I’ve had at least one every night since we got home. Usually I wouldn’t even remember them, but I think talking to my dad must’ve...reopened an old wound. Last night… That was so much _worse.”_

“They’re just nightmares, Darling,” Will reminded him. “I’ll keep you safe, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

 

* * *

 

 

Lou Ellen returned to the hospital twice a week for physical therapy. She would text Will as soon as she arrived at the hospital and would wait for his response to see if he would meet her for lunch. Sometimes it was before lunch, sometimes after, and sometimes Will was too busy to meet up with her at all, but no matter what, Lou always got a response.

Except for this time. She’d texted him as soon as she reached the hospital, and checked her phone repeatedly until the start of her appointment. Afterwards, she still hadn’t received a response, and ended up trying to call Will. When there was no answer there either, Lou Ellen went up to the surgical floor of the hospital and went to the nearest information desk to ask if Will had shown up to work that day.

“Doctor Solace?” the nurse asked, smiling nervously. “He… He’s here today, yes, but he’s a bit...preoccupied at the moment. Would you like me to...leave a message?”

Lou frowned. “No, that’s alright, I’ll just talk to him the next time I’m here. Can you tell me if he’s scheduled to be here on Thursday?”

The nurse started to look panicked, like she wasn’t sure if she was allowed to answer. “Well, um. I can’t… I’m not at liberty to give out anyone’s schedules, but you can always call to check in on him.”

“Alright, thank you,” Lou said, and turned away from the desk. She tried not to overthink the way the nurse had acted - call to _check in on him?_ That sounded more like she was talking about a patient than a doctor.

 

Around two, Nico texted Will asking if he’d be off work in time to pick a few things up from the store before dinner. After half an hour without an answer, Nico wasn’t worried. Will was usually busy, and it wasn’t like he couldn’t run to the store himself.

The two returned home, and Nico and Bianca put away the groceries before Nico made Bianca a snack. Around five, he called Will, and there was no answer. To Will’s voicemail, Nico said, “Hey, babe, call me back if you’re gonna be home in time for dinner, okay? Love you.”

Will didn’t call back.

Nico and Bianca had spaghetti for dinner and watched TV for a little while before it was time for Bianca to go to bed. It took more convincing than usual for Nico to get Bianca to stay in her room; she never wanted to sleep before Will got home to kiss her goodnight, and tonight was no different. Nico told her a bedtime story, one about a magic pirate ship (because honestly, Nico could never get enough of pirate stories), and promised her that as soon as Will got home, he would come say goodnight. He kissed Bianca on the forehead and turned off the light when he left the room.

He didn’t try calling Will again before he went to bed.

At this point in his life, Nico was too used to sleeping with someone beside him, so it was difficult to fall asleep in the first place, and after the couple of weeks he’d just had, he wasn’t exactly excited to sleep on his own. When he finally did manage to fall asleep, he was restless.

He tossed and turned all night, waking up fully around three and still feeling an empty bed next to him. He finally felt worry set in like a rock in his stomach, rolling out of bed and wandering the house for a few minutes for any sign that Will had come home, even for a moment, but there was nothing. No keys on the counter, no change of scrubs in the hamper, no tan, freckled body asleep on the couch or in the bed in the guest room.

Nico returned to his and Will’s shared bedroom, unplugging his phone from where it sat on the nightstand, and scrolled through his contacts, hitting the call button next to Will’s name.

“Will?” Nico said softly to his fiance’s voicemail. “I know you’re probably busy and I’m probably worrying for nothing, but-- But I am worrying. As soon as you get this, can you please call me or text me or _something_?” He paused. “I love you, Sunshine.” And he stopped recording.

 

Cecil was pacing in the hall outside one of the ICU rooms, reading and rereading everything the chart in his hands had to tell him. Each time he flipped through the pages, he tried to skip over the details of the accident, but his eyes couldn’t help but read over every word. He would remind himself each time that he was _looking_ for something. Reading this over again would just make the panic _worse,_ but he couldn’t help it.

_Emergency Contact,_ he reminded himself again and again. That’s what he was looking for. Why couldn’t he find a single emergency contact?

His frantic reading was interrupted by somebody shouting his name down the hall, and a wheelchair flew down the hall so fast that he thought he was going to be hit.

“Lou?” he asked, slamming the chart closed and hiding the name on the front. “What are you doing here? Why are you in a wheelchair?”

“I’m here for physical therapy; they haven’t cleared me from the wheelchair yet,” she answered, peering around him to look into the room they were in front of, until Cecil blocked her line of sight. “What are you doing _here?_ Outside what looks to be a grown man’s room when you’re a _pediatric_ surgeon?”

Cecil froze, eyes darting through the glass doors to the man lying in the bed before his gaze fell back to Lou Ellen in front of him.

“He’s in there, isn’t he?” Lou asked quietly.

“I don’t know what you mean,” he lied, holding the chart close to his chest.

“He’s not answering my texts, he didn’t come to see me for lunch after physical therapy,” Lou told him. “I had him _paged_ this morning and nobody would tell me where he was.”

Cecil remained silent.

“Give me the chart, Cecil,” Lou demanded.

“I could get fired for that!”

“Then tell me he’s not in there!” She pointed toward the glass separating them from the man in the bed.

Cecil ducked his head, unable to maintain eye contact any longer.

Lou’s breath hitched. “Why doesn’t he have anyone here for him? Didn’t you call anybody?”

“He doesn’t have any emergency contacts. He never listed any when he moved here.”

“Then find his phone and _look for one.”_

“I can’t just look through his stuff, that’s a violation of patient privacy!”

“He’s your best friend, Cecil, _find his phone and call somebody.”_

 

Bianca was cranky, and Nico knew that the only thing that would get her to behave herself was for Will to come home. Nico tried convincing her that Will came home after she went to sleep but had to leave again in the middle of the night, but the he knew the bags under his eyes and the tired tone of his voice couldn’t have convinced anyone.

Eventually, Nico called Hazel. He needed a break, and he wanted to find Will, so he asked his sister to watch Bianca for a few hours. Hazel had agreed, but Bianca had screamed at him when he told her they were leaving - she didn’t want to go anywhere until she saw Will, so Nico had to practically beg to get her dressed and out the door.

He pulled Hazel aside and hugged her as soon as they entered her apartment, which had her worried even more than she already was. “What’s wrong?” she asked as she returned the embrace.

“Will’s not answering my calls,” Nico muttered. “I’m worried about him. Is it too much for me to go to the hospital and try to find him?”

“How long has it been? A Day? Two?” Nico nodded. “Oh, Nico, I’m sure he’s just busy. Go find him, and let me know when you’re on your way back.” She kissed his cheek before guiding him back toward the door.

When Nico sat down in his car, he contemplated how comfortable of a pillow his steering wheel would make. He was still _so exhausted,_ and he wanted nothing more to fall asleep and wake up beside Will like this whole thing had been just another bad dream.

He turned the key and drove out of the parking lot, heading toward the hospital. He hadn’t even gone a mile before he phone started ringing in his pocket, and Nico struggled to fish it out while driving.

He nearly dropped the phone when he saw the name on the screen. He pulled over onto the shoulder as he answered. “Will?”

“Is this Nico?” a voice that was very much _not_ Will’s responded.

“Yes,” Nico said, surprised he could get the word out when he suddenly felt like he was going to throw up any second.

“My name is Doctor Cecil Markowitz,” the voice continued with a stable facade, though Nico could hear it shaking. “There’s been an accident.”

Nico choked on his words. There were so many thoughts running through his head, yet at the same time his mind was blank.

“Will is currently in the ICU,” Cecil continued. “I can tell you more once you get here. Can you… Are you available? To come up to the hospital?”

“I’m on my way,” Nico whispered.

“Ask for directions to the ICU at the front desk,” Cecil told him. “I’ll see you soon.”

Nico hung up the phone, and stared down at it for a moment. He couldn’t find it in himself to move until his stomach turned over, and Nico had to throw open the driver’s side door to vomit on the side of the road. Thankfully, he’d been too worried to eat much at breakfast, but that just meant that he sat hunched over in his seat for a few minutes, body trying to empty an already exhausted stomach. When he could move again, Nico rinsed out his mouth with a bottle of water he found in the door, and started to drive once more.

He thought his body might revolt against him again as he pulled into the parking lot, but he took a second to breathe, to try to calm himself down, and readied himself for whatever he was about to see.

The exterior doors slid open when he walked up. The lights in the lobby were too bright and the receptionist too happy. Her smile didn’t fade as she offered him directions to the ICU.

He shuffled down the hall, passing the waiting room attached to the ER, feeling his stomach clench as he remembered sitting there, waiting for Will to arrive after he’d almost _poisoned_ their daughter--

He stopped. He staggered toward the wall, leaning against it for support as his vision started to blur. He leaned back against the wall, blinking up at the ceiling in hopes of persuading the tears back into his eyes before his legs practically gave out from under him and he slid down the wall. He hung his head between his knees, hoping to stop his head from spinning.

Nico heard the sound of wheels gliding across the floor, though he couldn’t get his legs to move out of the way.

“Hey, man,” a voice said above him, “are you alright?”

He lifted his head slowly to keep his head from spinning even more, and was met with a woman about his age with purple hair and a frown on her face.

“Oh god,” she said, expression falling from polite concern to devastation. “You’re Nico, aren’t you?”

He nodded, wiping under his eyes with the back of his hand. “How do you know that?”

“I’ve seen pictures of you,” she told him with a sad smile, and held out a hand. “I’m Lou Ellen. Your boy really likes to show you off.”

Nico’s breath hitched as he reached up, but hesitated before taking her hand. “Have you seen him?”

Lou Ellen shook her head. “They won’t let me in, but I’m friends with some of the doctors. They keep telling me he’ll be fine, but I’d kinda like to see for myself. I don’t suppose if I show you the way, you’ll let me in with you?”

Nico nodded. “Yes, _please.”_ He took Lou’s hand and rose to his feet. He stepped behind her wheelchair to give the illusion that he would push her down the hall, but he really just needed something to help him stay standing.

As soon as Nico saw the first sign telling them that they were in the ICU, his legs turned almost gave out from under him, even with the support of Lou’s wheelchair. His heart started hammering in his chest and his vision started blurring once more, though he wasn’t sure whether that was from the nerves or another round of tears forming.

“Lou, I don’t know if I can do it,” he choked out.

“You’re gonna be fine, Nico, and so is he. He’s just knocked out from the surgery, that’s what Cecil said. He’ll wake up soon.”

They continued down the hall, and Nico noticed one doctor loitering around one of the rooms. He looked in their direction, stomping toward them the second he realized who it was. “Lou, I told you, you have to get off this floor--” he paused, seeming to notice Nico for the first time. “You-- You’re Nico?”

Nico nodded, recognizing the voice from the phone. “Cecil, right?”

He nodded back. “Thank God you’re here,” he said. “Now Lou and I have a reason to go in there--” He stopped himself again, eyes widening. “Unless you don’t want us there, of course.”

“It’s fine,” Nico told him, and looked around anxiously. “Where is he?”

“Down here.” Cecil led them a few rooms down the hall before stopping to open one of the doors, holding it open for Nico to walk through.

His heart stopped when he entered the room, eyes landing on his battered fiance and feeling a sob build in his throat. Will had a dark bruise underneath one eye, and a propped up leg in a cast. One arm was held across his chest in a cast. Nico moved toward the bed, dropping heavily into the bedside chair and taking Will’s uninjured hand in his own.

“Where’s his ring?” Nico asked, thumb brushing over the back of Will’s hand as he glanced up at Cecil across the room.

“We usually don’t allow the patients to wear jewelry while they’re here,” Cecil explained. “Especially rings and bracelets, because they can interfere with the blood pressure readings.”

Lou wheeled herself toward a table in the corner of the room, picking up a plastic bag. “He doesn’t care about that, Cecil, he wants his ring.” She propelled herself back over to Nico, handing him the bag. “This is all of his stuff.”

“Stuff?” Nico repeated, taking the bag and holding it in his lap.

“Clothes, shoes, wallet,” Cecil said. “Everything he had with him when he came in.” He jumped slightly, as if remembering something, and reached into his pocket. “Except for this.” He pulled out a phone with a shattered screen, handing it over to Nico.

“Do you know...what happened?” Nico asked.

Cecil scratched at the back of his head awkwardly. “I’m, uh, not actually Will’s doctor, I’m just his friend. So I don’t have all the information. I know it was a car accident, but I don’t really know the details. He has fractured ribs, a broken collarbone, and a crushed foot, but he’s already had surgeries reset all of his bones. He should be cleared as soon as he wakes up.”

“And when will that be?”

Cecil sighed. “We don’t know.”

Nico bit his lip and stared down at his fiance. “Can I have some time alone?”

Cecil nodded. “Of course.” He turned to leave, holding the door open for Lou on their way out.

Nico scooted his chair closer to the bedside, digging through the bag with one hand and still holding Will’s with the other.

“You should’ve tried harder to convince me to stay in bed,” he said softly, fingers closing around the ring and dragging it out.

“Bianca’s upset that you haven’t been home,” he continued, cautiously sliding the ring onto the hand in the sling, careful not to move Will’s arm at all as he did so. “She started singing that song yesterday, the one that makes me think of you.”

He dropped the bag of Will’s clothes, clutching at Will’s uninjured hand with both of his. “You know which one I’m talking about,” he said, and started to sing shakily. “You are my Sunshine, my only Sunshine--”

He started to sob.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello it's my birthday!! i held off on posting this for a little while SPECIFICALLY to post it on my birthday so here it is i hope you like it!!

Nico sat lounging in an arm chair in his father’s living room, typing up a paper - it seemed like all he ever did anymore was type. He’d spent the last couple of hours in the woods behind the house, trudging through the snow, and had just finally gotten the feeling back in his toes when the doorbell rang. 

He closed his laptop, having a feeling that he wouldn’t be adding any more to that paper any time soon, and rose to answer the door. He didn’t remember locking the door behind himself when he returned home, but he must have if Bianca was ringing the bell. He swung the door open, a snarky comment on the tip of his tongue before his eyes registered the sight before him. 

A man stood on the doorstep - eyes bloodshot, cheeks and nose red, noticeable alcohol on his breath even from three feet away - arms holding loosely onto a broken body. The features of the body flickered before Nico’s eyes, but the drunken man stayed the same.

“She came out of nowhere,” the man slurred, his words echoing in Nico’s head. “Ran right into my car, I need a phone, do you have a phone I can use?”

As Nico stared down at the body in the man’s arms, the features solidified, no longer flickering long brown hair and soft pale skin. Instead, Nico saw tan skin, freckles, blond curls. He saw the blue eyes and recognized them, remembered seeing the sky in them, but now all he saw was shattered glass. 

Nico gasped in a breath, feeling like he’d been deprived of air for  _ just _ longer than he could stand. His heart was racing, pounding in his head like his skull was too small, pressing in on him and making him feel dizzy, disoriented. He didn’t even register the hand shaking his shoulder until a few moments had passed. 

He sat up, pulling himself away from Will’s side but leaving a single hand resting over Will’s, and glanced up. 

“Nico, your phone has been ringing for half an hour,” Cecil told him, pulling back his hand and straightening. “Or Will’s, maybe. It must be important.” Nico slipped his phone out of his pocket as Cecil turned to leave, reading  _ 3 missed calls _ and  _ 4:35pm _ . “Also, visiting hours are over for the day, but I won’t force you to leave yet--”

Nico shot up from his seat. “I have to go,” he cut in, grabbing his jacket and the bag of Will’s things. “Can I take this?” he asked, holding up the bag. Cecil barely had a chance to nod before Nico was rushing past him toward the door, and stopping. He turned back, moving to press a kiss to Will’s forehead, whispering, “I’ll be back soon. Wake up, would you?” and ran out into the hall.

He was walking into Hazel’s apartment right at five o’clock, and immediately pulled his sister in to the kitchen.

“What happened?” she asked. “Did you find Will?”

Nico nodded and leaned heavily against the counter. “He… There was--” He scrubbed his hands across his face. “He was in a car accident.”

“Oh my god!” Hazel exclaimed. “Is he alright? Do you know what happened?”

Nico shook his head. “The doctor didn’t know. He said Will was in surgery all day yesterday, and he hasn’t woken up yet, and…” He hiccuped as tears started to stream down his cheeks once more. How did he even have any tears left? “What if he doesn’t wake up, Hazel?”

Hazel pulled him close and embraced him. “He’s gonna be fine, Nico, his doctor would’ve told you if he wasn’t.”

“What am I supposed to tell Bianca?” Nico whispered. “She’s been so upset since Will’s been gone, how do I tell her that… That he--”

“Don’t get her worried about nothing,” Hazel cut in before Nico could start to spiral. “Just tell her that Will got hurt and has to stay at the hospital for a little while longer.”

Nico pulled himself back and wiped the tears from his eyes. “How am I supposed to be a good dad if I can’t think quick like that?”

“You don’t need to think quick, you just need to think about what’s best for her,” Hazel replied. “Now, go on home, have a nice dinner, and break the news gently. Call me if you need me, okay?”

Nico nodded. “Thank you, Hazel.”

They returned to the living room, and Bianca jumped up off the couch where she’d been sitting with Frank. “Nico!” she exclaimed, and attached herself to his legs. “Did you see Daddy today?”

Nico swallowed around the lump of emotion in his throat and tried to smile down at her. “I did, and I’ll tell you all about it after dinner later, okay?”

“Okay,” she answered. “Can we have chicken for dinner?”

“Sure, Princess. Say goodbye to Frank and Hazel.”

“Bye Frank, bye Hazel!” Bianca called, and took Nico’s hand as they started out the door.

 

“Is Daddy gonna be home for bedtime?” Bianca asked as they settled on the couch after dinner.

Nico took a deep breath. “Actually, Bi, there’s something I have to tell you.” He turned to face her completely, and started nervously spinning his engagement ring on his finger. “Daddy is… He’s going to be at the hospital for a while, and he’s not gonna be able to come home yet.”

“Why not?” 

“He was in an accident in his car, and he got hurt. He’s gonna be sleeping at the hospital for a little while until he’s better. I talked to his doctor, and he said that Daddy won’t be home for at least a few more days.”

“But--” Bianca’s lip started to quiver and her eyes were brimming with tears. “I want Daddy to come home!”

Nico reached toward her and pulled her onto his lap. “I know, Princess, so do I. But he has to stay there so that he can get better.”

“I wanna go see him. I wanna go now!”

“The hospital won’t let us go now, it’s against the rules,” Nico explained. “We can go tomorrow, though, okay?” Bianca nodded and wrapped her arms around him. “Do you want to pick a movie to watch before bed?” She nodded again, so Nico handed her the remote.

Bianca fell asleep in his lap somewhere around the middle of the movie, and so he carried her to bed once he was sure she was fast asleep. When he returned to the couch, he sent a text to Annabeth asking if she was awake and up to talk. She called him moments later.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. “You never text before calling.”

Nico rolled his eyes. “It’s late on a weekday, I was trying to be considerate.”

“Nico, tell me what’s wrong.”

“It’s...Will.” He took a breath, trying to gather the courage to say the words all over again, but Annabeth beat him to it.

“Did he do something? Yell at you? Forget your six-month anniversary?”

“He got in a car crash.”

There was silence for a moment before: “Oh. Oh,  _ god, _ Nico, I’m so sorry. Is he alright? Is there anything I can do?”

Nico shook his head, though he knew Annabeth couldn’t see. “Broken ribs, broken leg,  _ so many _ bruises. The doctor wouldn’t tell me much, but he was asleep when I saw him. He...he never woke up from surgery, how long does it normally take people to wake up from surgery?”

“I don’t know, Nico,” Annabeth said softly, “but he’ll be alright, the doctor would’ve told you otherwise.”

“That’s what Hazel said.”

“See? Nothing to worry about.”

“But there  _ is _ stuff to worry about! He could’ve  _ died, _ Annabeth, and he never met any of you! He would’ve left me and his daughter all alone - I’m not ready to raise a kid by myself! I've barely managed the past twenty-four hours without him, and even then I sent her off to spend the day with Hazel! We’re  _ engaged, _ and--  _ Oh, god.” _

“What? What is it?”

“I said… I told him that I wasn’t ready to marry him yet. What was I  _ thinking? _ I would marry him  _ tomorrow _ if I could, but what if he doesn’t wake up?”

“Nico, please, don’t make any rash decisions when you’re emotional,” Annabeth insisted. “And you can get yourself into a terrible situation if you keep thinking up  _ what ifs. _ Don’t worry about things until the doctors give you something to worry about. Are you going to go back to the hospital tomorrow?”

“Of course I am!”

“Then talk to the doctors and make sure they’re telling you  _ everything. _ If you don’t understand something, make them explain it to you. That’s your  _ fiance, _ and you deserve to know  _ everything. _ Keep me updated, okay?” Before Nico could answer, he heard shouting in the background, and Annabeth sighed before saying, “Percy says he loves you.”

Nico rolled his eyes. “Thanks, Annabeth, I’ll let you know how it goes.”

As he went to hang up the phone, he heard Percy’s voice saying,  _ “Did he say it back?” _

Nico rose from the couch and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and get ready for bed. He changed into his pajamas but hesitated when he stared down at the bed he shared with Will. The idea of sleeping there another night without Will unsettled him, and he backed out of the room, choosing instead to sleep in the guest bed. He had just as hard of a time sleeping there.

 

When they arrived at the hospital the next morning, Will was still asleep, and Bianca asked what the point of being there was if they couldn’t talk to him.

Nico thought it was a pretty good question. But he wasn’t going to leave until somebody kicked him out, good question or not.

“If Daddy’s sleeping, then why is he sitting up like that?” Bianca asked.

Nico sat down and pulled Bianca into his lap. “A few of his ribs are broken,” Nico started, tapping his fingers against the side of Bianca’s ribcage, “right over here, and so is his collarbone--” he brought up a hand to point out Bianca’s collarbone “--so when he lays down flat, it’s hard for the air to get to his lungs. And if he moves around too much, the broken pieces could move around too, and make him hurt more.”

Bianca nodded. She stayed quiet for a moment, seeming to be looking over Will’s injuries, before she asked, “Why’s all the bad stuff over here?” She pointed to Will’s left side, where there were more bruises and breaks than the right.

“When Daddy’s car was in the accident, the left side got hit, so his left side got hurt the worst.”

“Why’s he still asleep?”

“Like I said yesterday, Bi,” Nico said with a sigh, “the more he sleeps, the better he’ll feel when he wakes up.”

“Can we wake him up?” 

Nico shook his head. “I tried yesterday, but he’s too stubborn. It’s better that he sleeps ‘til he’s ready.”

“But this is boring,” Bianca complained.

“I know, I’m sorry. Do you want me to ask one of the nurses if they can find you a coloring book?”

The nearest information desk had a single coloring book and half a box of broken crayons, but it was better than nothing since Nico didn’t want to wander all the way to the pediatric ward just for coloring supplies. He brought them back to Will’s room where he’d left Bianca, and set her up with the TV tray to color on. 

Every time she finished a picture, she would ask if Will was awake yet, though every time the answer stayed the same. After about an hour, she’d poorly colored every picture the book had to offer, and started to complain once again about how bored she was.

It was around that time, though, that Lou Ellen wheeled herself into the room, greeting Nico when she entered.

“Any news, Ghostie?” she asked, and Nico rolled his eyes at the nickname. 

“Not yet,” Nico responded, before turning to Bianca. “Bi, this is Lou, she’s Daddy’s friend.”

Lou wheeled her chair closer. “You’re Bianca? I’ve heard so much about you! Oh my goodness, you’re so cute!”

“Do you know when Daddy’s gonna wake up?” Bianca asked.

Lou shook her head. “No, honey, I’m sorry, I don’t.”

Bianca crossed her arms. “Then I wanna go home! I don’t wanna sit here any longer!”

Nico sighed. “Bi--”

“What if I take you for a ride on my wheelchair?” Lou suggested, looking to Nico for permission. “I can show you all my favorite places in the hospital.”

Bianca turned to Nico with bright eyes. “Can I, Nico?”

“Sure, Bi. Make sure you listen to everything Lou says, alright? And don’t wander off on your own.”

Lou smiled at Bianca. “Alright, all aboard!” 

Nico lifted Bianca and carefully set her in Lou’s lap before she wheeled them backwards towards the door. “Thanks, Lou.”

She offered a two-fingered salute with one has as she turned the chair with the other. “No problem, Ghostie!” And with that, the two left. 

Nico sat back down and picked up Will’s hand once more, stroking his thumb across his knuckles and praying he would wake up. He kind of wished he’d brought his laptop with him, or at least  _ something _ to do, but at the same time, he didn’t want to take his eyes off of Will in case he started to wake up. 

He leaned forward until both of his elbows were on the mattress, and then soon laid his head down next to Will’s thigh. The next thing he knew, his eyes were sliding shut and he started to drift off as he kept one hand wound around Will’s.

It was the first time in weeks that he slept without dreams - nightmares or otherwise - though the position he was in and the light streaming through the window kept him from really getting any rest for more than about half an hour. 

And his hand kept twitching.

No, not  _ his  _ hand. The hand  _ under _ his.

_ Will’s hand. _

Nico sat up and watched as Will’s fingers moved against the sheets, and then looked up to see Will’s eyes fluttering open.

Will groaned softly and squeezed Nico’s hand. “Ghost King? Is that you? Are you here to put me out of my misery?”

Nico got lost as he stared into the sky inside Will’s eyes. “You’re awake,” he whispered. “You… You  _ asshole!” _ Nico choked as he tried to hold back a sob, tears rolling down his cheeks that he hurried to wipe away.

Will pouted. “Hey,  _ harsh. _ What was that for?”

Nico smacked the back of his hand against Will’s uninjured arm. “You-- Because  _ you--” _ Nico exhaled shakily and reached up to brush his fingers across Will’s cheek as he whispered, “You  _ scared me.” _

Will turned his head to kiss Nico’s palm. “I’m sorry, Darlin’, please don’t cry. It makes your pretty face all red when you cry.” Will stumbled over his words as he tiredly fought against his Southern drawl. His head lolled to the side as he nuzzled his face into Nico’s hand, looking like he was about to fall asleep again in a second.

Nico frowned. “Will? Do you even know where you are?”

“Hospital,” he answered plainly, grinning when Nico started to nod. 

“And do you know who I am?”

“The prettiest boy in the world,” Will replied dreamily, dopily, and that’s when Nico realized that Will  _ didn’t  _ have brain damage.

“Babe, do you know how many drugs you’re on right now?” Nico asked.

Will’s smile turned megawatt.  _ “So _ many drugs.”

A laugh bubbled out of Nico. “You have no idea what’s going on, do you?”

“I know that I love you.”

“But do you know my name?”

Will snorted. “Nope!” He started to laugh, but soon his smile turned into a wince as he cried out, “Ow! Shit, that hurts!”

“Careful, Sunshine, you’re hurt pretty bad.”

“Yeah, no shit,” Will grumbled and pouted, turning his face away from Nico.

Nico squeezed Will’s hand. “I should go get your doctor, right? Don’t they need to check on you when you wake up?”

Will nodded, and his head lolled back toward him. “But I don’t want you to leave.”

“I don’t want to leave, either, but it’ll just be for a second,” Nico promised, and stood up.

“No, no, no!” Will said quickly, and tugged on Nico’s hand. “There should be a button somewhere that if you hit it, then someone will come in here. It’s like what some patients think is the room service button when they want a nurse to bring them pudding.”

“A call button,” Nico stated, and Will smiled.

“Yeah, that!”

Nico released his hand and moved around the bed in search of the call button, though he wasn’t even sure what he was looking for. Did it look like a remote? Was it attached to the bed somewhere? Did it have a big red button that said  _ call _ in capital letters?

With his uninjured hand, Will tugged at the front of his hospital gown until he could see the heart monitors stuck to his chest. “Oh! Or I could pull one of these off and a  _ lot _ of people will show up!” Before Nico could stop him, Will ripped off one of the stickers and the monitor to his left started to shriek. 

Nico lunged toward him to reattach the sticker, but by the time he had, there was already a crowd forming in the doorway.

“Sorry!” Nico exclaimed, jumping back from the bed. “He pulled the monitor off before I could stop him, but he’s fine!”

Slowly, the crowd started to disperse as doctors and nurses returned to their jobs, though Cecil fought his way further into the room. 

“Cecil!” Will shouted, throwing his arm up in the air as if to help pinpoint who had spoken. He grabbed Nico’s arm then and pulled him closer. “Have you met the love of my life, uh--” He frowned up at Nico. “What’s your name again?”

“Nico,” he reminded Will, at the same time that Cecil said, “We’ve already met.”

“Did you know we’re  _ engaged?” _ Will asked, and started wiggling the fingers of his hand that was being held up in the sling. He gasped when he looked down at them. “My ring is gone!”

“Oh, I have it,” Nico replied, slipping it off his finger and sliding it onto Will’s.

“You took my ring,” Will said accusingly, and Nico rolled his eyes.

“It was my ring first.”

“Well,  _ I _ proposed first. And last!”

“You can remember that, but you can’t remember my name?”

“I remember your name! It’s...uh--”

“Hey, uh,” Cecil piped up from across the room, “don’t mean to interrupt your lover’s spat, but--”

“Cecil!” Will exclaimed, like he’d forgotten the other doctor was in the room. “We’re gonna get married, and you should be my guy!”

“Your...guy?” Cecil repeated.

“Yeah! You know, my  _ guy! _ At the wedding, you’re gonna be the guy thats stands next to me!”

“Your best man?”

Will pointed at him enthusiastically, moving his arm so quickly that he almost punched Nico’s shoulder. “That’s the shit!”

Nico grabbed Will’s arm and lowered it back to the bed, keeping a tight grip on his hand in the hopes that it would keep him from throwing any more unexpected punches.

“Is he normally like this around you?” Cecil asked, and Nico shook his head.

“I may be high off my ass, but you’re not gonna get out of being my best guy!”

“Man,” Nico corrected.  
“Yeah!” He turned to gaze at Nico with love in his eyes. “You love me.”

Nico smiled back. “I think you meant to say  _ I love you.” _

“That’s what I said.”

Cecil grabbed Will’s chart from where it sat near the door and started to flip through it as he stepped toward the machines at Will’s left. “Alright, Will, I’m going to adjust your pain meds slightly so that we can hopefully have a normal conversation with you soon.”

Before Cecil could do anything, however, a voice called from the doorway, “Step back, Markowitz.” 

Will gasped before calling out, “La Rue! What’re you doing here?”

A woman -  _ Doctor _ La Rue, if Nico had to guess by the white coat and stethoscope - came into the room and shouldered Cecil aside as she plucked the chart from his hands. “I’m your doctor, Solace, who else would you expect after breaking more than ten bones?”

Nico frowned up at her, recognizing her face but not quite remembering her name until he read it on her nametag when she turned toward him. At the same time that she said, “di Angelo?” Nico said, “Clarisse?”

“You two know each other?” Cecil asked.

“She used to beat up one of my best friends at summer camp,” Nico answered, and turned back to Clarisse to say, “I didn’t know you wanted to be a doctor.”

Clarisse raised an eyebrow. “Orthopedic surgeon. I didn’t know  _ you _ were the Nico that Solace never shuts up about.”

Will rolled his head toward Clarisse and asked, “La Rue, will you be in our wedding?”

Nico tried to hide his blush behind one hand as he squeezed Will’s with the other. “Will,  _ please.” _

Clarisse turned to glare at Cecil. “Markowitz, did you do something to him?”

“I was  _ going _ to adjust his drip before you came in,” Cecil replied.

Nico watched as Clarisse fiddled with one of the monitors for a moment before marking something in Will’s chart. “Markowitz, keep me updated on any changes,” she said as she pushed Will’s chart back into Cecil’s hands and turned to leave, but Nico stopped her with a  _ Wait! _

“If you’re Will’s doctor, then you know what happened, right?” Nico asked.

Clarisse sighed, and Nico watched her switch into  _ Doctor Mode _ right before his eyes - something he’d seen Will do quite a few times. “He was in an accident about a block from here. He was conscious when he came in, but not for very long. His collarbone is broken on the left side, he has three broken ribs that nearly punctured his lung but now after surgery that shouldn’t be a problem anymore, and his leg was crushed in the footwell of the car which resulted in multiple breaks and fractures of the bones in his foot and ankle, all of which were set in surgery. Now that I’ve lowered the dosage of his painkillers, he might feel more aches and stiffness in the rest of his body from whiplash and other blunt-force injuries he received in the crash.”

Nico nodded and squeezed Will’s hand. “Thank you,” he said, and Clarisse walked out the door. 

When he looked back down at Will, he saw Will gazing at him lovingly. “Can I have a kiss?”

Nico raised an eyebrow. “Cecil is standing right over there.”

“Oh, don’t mind me, I’m leaving,” Cecil replied, dropping Will’s chart where he’d found it on his way out the door.

Will watched as if to make sure Cecil was  _ truly _ gone before he batted his eyes at Nico and asked,  _ “Now _ can I have a kiss?”

Nico leaned in close and raised one hand to cup Will’s jaw, but he held himself just far enough away that Will couldn’t reach him. “Tell me my name, and I’ll give you a kiss.”

Will frowned. “I feel like La Rue  _ just _ said it.”

Nico dropped his head onto Will’s good shoulder.  _ “Oh my god.” _

 

Lou had shown Bianca around the entire hospital - besides, of course, the off-limits areas like the surgical floor and the emergency room - and eventually circled back around to ICU. Cecil was making his way down the hall toward them, studying a chart as he went and clearly not paying any attention to his surroundings until Lou wheeled her chair right up in front of him. 

“Might wanna watch where you’re going, Cecil,” Lou said when he finally looked up from the chart in his hands.

“Lou, what’re you--” Cecil stopped himself when he noticed Bianca sitting on Lou’s lap. He crouched down until they were eye-level. “Hi, Bianca, what are you doing here?”

“Nico brought me to see Daddy,” she answered, “but he was still sleeping.”

Cecil aimed a blank stare up at Lou. “So what, you showed her every off-limits area in the entire building?”

“Have some faith, Cecil,” Lou shot back. “Nowhere off-limits, just the cafeteria and the waiting rooms and whatever. Any news on Will yet?”

Cecil nodded as he stood back up. “He’s up, and you should hurry over there. Visiting hours are ending soon.”

“Got it,” Lou replied, and started wheeling herself and Bianca further down the hall. “Did you hear that, Bianca? Your dad’s finally awake!”

“Really? Can we go see him?” Bianca asked, practically bouncing in excitement.

“Yep, we’re going right now.” She came to a stop outside of Will’s room, knocking on the door before turning the knob and maneuvering her chair through the doorway. 

“Daddy!” Bianca exclaimed upon seeing her father, and Will beamed at her.

“Bianca!” Will called back. “And Lou! Babe, do you know Lou? Can  _ she _ be in the wedding?”

Nico rolled his eyes.  _ “How _ do you not remember my name? Should I be worried about this?”

Will frowned, squinting at Nico in concentration, and then his face relaxed as he shrugged his good shoulder. “I got nothing.”

Nico groaned and slouched in his chair. “I’m not taking you home until you remember my name.”

“No! That’s not fair! I’m  _ injured.” _

“Clarisse didn’t say anything about brain damage, so I think you’re faking this because you think it’s funny.”

“When  _ can  _ you take him home?” Lou asked, and Nico blinked at her in surprise.

“Oh, I, uh. I don’t know. I forgot to ask. Would you mind hanging out here for a minute while I go find someone to ask?”

“No problem,” Lou replied, and as Nico left, Lou and Bianca took his place at Will’s bedside. “So about your wedding--”

“Daddy, you’re gonna have a wedding?” Bianca asked.

Will reached out to ruffle her hair as he grinned. “Of course I am. Nico and I are gonna get married.”

“Oh, so you  _ do  _ remember his name,” Lou commented, already catching on to Will’s drug-induced state. “Have you been faking since you woke up?”

Will raised a finger to his lips and did what Lou could only assume was supposed to be a wink, but he very clearly shut both eyes. “Don’t tell him! It’s funny.”

In another moment or two, Nico returned to the room with an unhappy look on his face. “Two pieces of bad news. First is that visiting hours are over.” He walked toward Lou and lifted Bianca off her lap, setting her on her feet next to Lou’s wheelchair. “Bi, say thank you to Lou for showing you around.”

“Thank you, Lou!” Bianca repeated.

“What’s the other thing?” Lou asked.

Nico sighed and reached for Will’s hand, addressing Will as he said, “Clarisse isn’t going to discharge you until tomorrow at the earliest, so you can’t come home with us tonight.”

Bianca tugged on Nico’s shirt. “But Nico, I don’t want Daddy to stay here any longer!”

“I know, Bi, and I don’t either, but his doctor says he has to stay another night at least,” Nico replied. “We’ll come back first thing tomorrow, okay?”

Bianca pouted. “Okay.”

Nico lifted her up once more and set her on the edge of Will’s bed, saying, “Say goodbye for now.”

As Bianca did so, Nico turned to Lou and said, “Thank you so much for watching her today. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t been here.”

“No problem, Ghostie. I’m sure I’ll see you around sometime,” she said, and wheeled herself out of the room.

Nico turned back toward Will and Bianca and asked, “Are you ready to go, Bi?”

“I don’t wanna, not without Daddy.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Bi,” Will replied, and ruffled her hair again. “I love you.”

“I love you, too, Daddy,” Bianca replied, and scooted herself to the edge of the mattress and hopped down. 

Nico leaned over Will and framed his face in his hands before placing a feather-light kiss on Will’s lips. “I love you, Sunshine. You’d better remember my name when I get back here tomorrow.”

Will grinned. “I love you, too, Darling.”

 

* * *

 

After visiting hours had ended, Will was moved out of the ICU and into an outpatient room in preparation for his discharge in the morning. Nico had only had a tiny panic attack when Will wasn’t in the ICU where he’d left him, but a nurse had directed him and Bianca to Will’s new room, and Nico’s heart returned to beating at its normal pace. 

They caught Clarisse just as she walked out of Will’s room, and Nico greeted her with a, “Hey, how is he doing?”

“I’m going to start the discharge papers now,” Clarisse answered, “but we need to make sure he can walk with a crutch before he can leave. You might want to give him a hand with that so he doesn’t hurt himself worse.” She punctuated her sentence with a toss of her head toward the room, and walked off with Will’s chart in her hands.

Bianca pushed her way past Nico to get into the room first, crying out for Will as she did. When Nico followed, he saw Will sitting up on the edge of the bed, still wearing nothing but a hospital gown and holding a crutch in one hand. He brightened immediately when he saw them.

“Hi, Bi!” he exclaimed, and leaned the crutch against the bedside so that he could wrap his arm around her. 

Nico stayed in the doorway to give the two time to catch up without his interruption, and smiled softly to himself as he watched them. Every so often, Will’s eyes would flicker up to meet Nico’s, giving him a look that was somewhere in between  _ I love you, I missed you _ and  _ why haven’t you kissed me yet? _

Don’t get him wrong, Nico wanted nothing more than to smother Will with kisses for as many days as he’d been gone, but for now he was content to sit back and let Bianca have the time with her dad - after all, this had to have been harder on her than it was on Nico. There would be plenty of time for Nico to pull Will close and kiss him until they both ran out of air; they had the rest of their lives for that. They were engaged, they were going to get  _ married, _ and now that Will was coherent, Nico didn’t know what could possibly stop him from blurting out that he didn’t want to get married  _ someday, _ that he would marry Will  _ tomorrow _ if he could.

Eventually, though, Nico couldn’t hold himself against the doorway any longer. He walked up to Will and stood directly in front of him before he bent down, cradled his jaw and pressed the softest kiss he could manage against Will’s lips. He held himself nose-to-nose with Will as he whispered, “Hi, Sunshine.”

“Hello, Darling,” Will replied, his eyes shining.

Nico stepped back, and Will’s lips immediately dropped into a pout. Nico crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at his fiance as he asked, “Are you going to keep calling me  _ darling _ all the time, or are you gonna tell me that you’ve finally remembered my name?”

Will grinned, his eyes lighting up with a teasing spark. “Nico, my darling, love of my life, how could I  _ ever _ forget your name?”

“So you admit you knew it yesterday!”

“Oh, yeah, I thought that was  _ hilarious _ yesterday,” Will answered. 

Nico turned away with a huff. “See if I give you clothes to change into before we leave. Maybe  _ I _ think  _ that’s _ funny.”

“No! Babe, c’mon,” Will whined, and turned to Bianca. “Bi, bring him back over here for me, would you?”

Bianca hurried over to Nico and tugged on his arm until he was close enough to Will once again for Will to grab his other hand and press a kiss to his knuckles. 

“I’m sorry I pretended to forget your name,” Will told him with his lips hovering just over Nico’s hand. “In my defense, I was on far too many painkillers.”

Nico hummed in thought before he said, “Alright, I guess you can have your clothes.” He slipped his hand out of Will’s and swung his backpack off one shoulder, twisting around until he could reach inside for the shorts and t-shirt he’d brought. “Are you going to need a hand getting dressed?”

“I’m gonna need a hand just to get to the bathroom, so I’m gonna guess so, yeah.” Will grabbed his crutch and leaned against it as he slowly stood, resting heavily on his right foot. “I’m still getting the hang of this, so bear with me.”

As Will slowly started making his way toward the en suite bathroom, Nico followed behind, ready to catch him if he needed. “Hang out right here for a couple minutes, Bi,” Nico called over his shoulder. “We’ll be right back.”

Nico stepped around Will to open the door for him, then shut it behind him, and lowered the lid to the toilet seat to give Will a place to sit. He noticed Will panting by the time he finally sat, and frowned at him. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Will assured him. “It’s just...a lot.”

He wanted to do something,  _ anything, _ that could help Will, but he couldn’t think of anything. There probably wasn’t anything he  _ could _ do. Nico set the t-shirt he’d brought on the counter and unfolded Will’s shorts, kneeling down to start dressing him when Will said, “You didn’t bring underwear?”

Nico’s brow furrowed. “No. Are you not wearing any?”

“No, all of my clothes were in that bag you took home,” Will answered, and frowned at the look Nico was giving him. “You look surprised. Did you not know that people generally don’t wear any clothes during surgery?”

“No, it’s not that,” Nico replied, shaking his head like he was trying to remove the thought from his mind - like his head was an Etch-A-Sketch. “I’m just impressed that you managed not to try getting into my pants yesterday while practically naked and also  _ very _ high. Anyway, I guess you’re going commando. Lift your feet up.”

“You totally knew, and you just wanted a better chance of getting laid tonight,” Will teased, putting one foot through the pant leg, then lifting the casted leg so that Nico could maneuver the fabric around it. 

Nico pulled the shorts up to about Will’s knees and then instructed Will to place his good hand on Nico’s shoulder to help him balance as he stood up. Nico fastened the button once the shorts were pulled up to Will’s hips, and stood up all the way to his tip toes for a quick kiss. “You know, I’m so used to  _ un _ dressing you that doing it the other way around is kind of weird.”

Will slipped his hand down from Nico’s shoulder to his waist, slowly creeping toward his butt as he said, “I’ll let you undress me later.”

One of Nico’s hands smacked Will’s away from his butt while the other pinched the skin over his hip bone. “There will be none of that until you’re fully healed.”

Will grinned.  _ “I  _ meant so that you could help me put on pajamas, but now I know where  _ your _ mind is at.”

Nico rolled his eyes. “You’re lucky you’re injured, or else I would smack you.”

“You would never.”

Nico huffed and refused to respond to that. Instead he turned his focus to the hospital gown and tried to figure out how to take it off without bothering Will’s ribs or collarbone. 

 

It had been a struggle getting Will into the car, and once they’d started moving, he’d squeezed his eyes shut and gripped the door handle so tight that his knuckles turned white. Nico had set what he hoped was a comforting hand on Will’s thigh, and for probably the fifth time that morning, he wished there was something more he could do to help.

Seeing as how Nico  _ also _ forgot to bring shoes - or,  _ one _ shoe - for Will, he handed Bianca the house key and had her run inside while Nico grabbed Will’s crutch out of the trunk. They returned to Will’s side at nearly the same time, and once he had both items, Will carefully lowered himself out of the car.

The first thing they did when they got inside was situate Will on the couch. He sat on the middle cushion with his foot propped up on the coffee table - a pillow under his heel, of course - and Bianca brought out about fifteen stuffed animals that she used to line Will’s sides while Nico made grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. Will had grumbled at first over the pampering, insisting that he didn’t need so much help, but once Bianca had started bringing out the stuffed animals, he couldn’t complain anymore. That had to have been the  _ sweetest _ thing she’d ever done.

They watched a movie while they ate, and Nico had to constantly remind himself not to lean against Will’s side no matter how much he desperately wanted to. He settled for placing a hand on Will’s thigh, instead, and whispering to him throughout the movie.

“I’m so glad you’re home,” he said, and pressed a kiss to his shoulder.

Will turned his head to smile at him, tilting his head in a way that Nico knew meant he was asking for a kiss. He couldn’t possibly refuse. “Me too.”

“Do you need anything?” Nico asked as he started to stroke his thumb across Will’s leg. “Water? Painkillers? Didn’t Clarisse say you should take some as soon as we got home?”

“I’m fine, babe,” Will assured him, and picked up one of Bianca’s stuffed animals. “Mr. Snuggles is keeping the pain at bay.”

“That’s not Mr. Snuggles, that’s Ms. Pumpkin,” Bianca replied, and lifted up a stuffed horse as she said,  _ “This _ is Mr. Snuggles.”

“Of course, I’m so sorry, sir,” Will said to the horse.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Nico asked. “Wouldn’t it be better to take them before the pain hits?”

“I promise you, I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about me so much, I can take care of myself.”

“Yeah, okay, but I can take care of you, too,” Nico responded. “Isn’t taking care of each other one of the main points of marriage?”

“I suppose,” Will said. “But we’re not married.”

“Not  _ yet. _ Maybe I want to get a little practice in before we are.”

Will rolled his eyes, but smiled at his fiance. “Alright,  _ fine, _ you can take care of me if you really want to.”

Nico reached up, fingers tracing along Will’s jaw line as he said, “Thanks, but I wasn’t asking for permission.”

Will met Nico’s lips in another kiss. “God, I missed you.”

Nico smiled. “Don’t even get me started. At least you were unconscious for most of the time we were apart.” He leaned his forehead against the bridge of Will’s nose. “I missed you, too,” he sighed.

 

Later that night, after Bianca had gone to sleep, Nico had started gathering as many pillows as he could find onto his and Will’s bed. Will still needed to sleep sitting upright so as to not accidentally crush or puncture one of his vital organs, so Nico needed to make sure he was propped up as much as possible.

Will, who had been yawning for the last half hour and just wanted to  _ sleep, _ didn’t appreciate all the fussing. He knew that, no matter what, he wouldn’t be able to sleep well, but he wanted to get whatever small amount of sleep he could, just to finally get some rest - hospitals were  _ not _ the place to find rest. 

Finally, after using up every pillow from the guest room and all but one pillow on their bed, Nico seemed satisfied with Will’s posture and the slight elevation of his broken foot. “Okay, you stay right there, and I’m gonna go get your pain pills.”

“No, I don’t need those,” Will told him. “I’m fine.”

“They might help you sleep better, though,” Nico reminded him.

Will sighed, knowing that Nico meant well but also knowing that a drug-induced sleep was nowhere near as nice as a drugless sleep, though he nodded anyway. “Okay, fine, I’ll take them.”

Nico pressed a kiss to his forehead. “I’ll be right back.”

Will tried to relax back into the pillows while Nico was gone, hoping that maybe if he fell asleep instantly, Nico wouldn’t make him take those pills, but he wasn’t so lucky.

“Here, Will,” he said, holding out the pills in one hand, waiting for Will to take them from him. “Two pills, and a glass of water.” He waited for Will to pop the pills into his mouth before handing him the glass, pausing for Will to take a drink, then accepting the glass when Will offered it back to him. He left it on Will’s nightstand. 

The lights were turned off and Nico climbed into bed next to Will, making sure to be on Will’s good side just in case he happened to move around in his sleep that night. He wrapped an arm around Will’s thigh, tucking his face against Will’s hipbone - it was surprisingly more comfortable than he expected.

“Good night, Darling,” Will said as he dropped a hand to stroke Nico’s hair.

“Good night,” Nico replied, and Will waited for the tension he felt in Nico’s body to dissipate, but he seemed to just squeeze Will’s leg harder. After a moment, Nico sat up again and turned on the lamp on the nightstand. “Wait, no, there’s something I need to tell you.”

Will frowned - for two reasons. On the one hand, he just wanted to  _ sleep, _ but on the other, he was concerned for what Nico had to say. He only picked at his nails like that when he was afraid that Will might not like what he had to say. Will reached for Nico’s hand and squeezed it as a sign that he should talk.

“When you proposed, you said that we didn’t have to get married  _ now, _ but  _ someday. _ I don’t want to get married  _ someday.” _

This time, Will’s frown was in confusion. “But you still want to get married, right?”

“Of course I do,” Nico replied, and twisted his hand under Will’s until he could twine their fingers together. “But I want to get married  _ now. _ Or as close to now as we can. I… I would be content to go to the courthouse first thing tomorrow morning to marry you, but I know that’s not what you want.” He leaned his forehead against Will’s and let his eyes fall shut as he took a shaky breath. “Will Solace, will you marry me as soon as possible?”

Will stroked his thumb across the back of Nico’s hand. “You’re right, I would never agree to marrying you in a courthouse. But I guess a few months from now is better than  _ someday.” _

“So, is that a yes?” Nico asked as he tried to keep his grin under control. 

“That depends, how many more times are we going to have to propose to each other before we finally get married?”

“Well, how many as this been?”

Will tilted his head forward for a kiss - a quick, simple press of the lips. “I’ve already lost count.”

 

* * *

 

Will’s morning started out much like any other: waking up next to the man he loved, pouring a bowl of cereal for Bianca’s breakfast, and getting in his car to go to work. He’d always considered his drive to be rather boring, and after all this time going back and forth, Will practically drove on autopilot. Left turn out of his neighborhood. Right turn onto the highway and cross the bridge into Manhattan. Take the downtown exit, stop at the light. It was incredibly simple, just one more right turn and he was pulling into the hospital’s parking lot, but simple was  _ boring. _ Sometimes, the drive nearly put him to sleep. 

He was stopped at the light, the hospital in sight just down the road, and he watched as the crossing traffic began to slow before coming to a stop. The light overhead turned green, and Will’s car slowly pushed forward. He didn’t see the other car until it had already blown through the light, already crashed into the driver’s side of Will’s car. He didn’t know what had happened until his leg was trapped between the crushed metal and plastic of the footwell, until he lifted his head from the airbag, until he struggled for breath under the weight of his broken ribs.

Will coughed and gasped and woke himself up from his nightmare, choking as he tried to calm himself down. His eyes were still squeezed shut - he didn’t think he’d ever opened them - but he felt a hand on his cheek, soft and warm and calming, and he heard Nico’s voice, soft and warm and calming just like his touch. He felt a weight carefully covering his lap as Nico lowered himself to sit on Will’s thighs. 

“Will,” he breathed, pressing his forehead against Will’s. “Shh, take a breath. Breathe with me, Sunshine.” Nico took Will’s good hand in his, pulling it to his chest and holding it there. “Deep breaths, babe. Everything’s fine. It was just a dream, Sunshine.” He stroked Will’s cheek with the tips of his fingers until Will finally opened his eyes. “There you are,” Nico sighed happily, smiling at his fiance. “Even after a few days in the hospital, you still have to rise with the sun, huh? What’s wrong, how can I help?”

Will leaned into Nico’s touch, sighing as he felt his heart continue to pound against his broken bones. “Nightmare,” Will breathed.

“I kinda figured,” Nico commented. “Wanna talk about it?”

He shook his head gently. “Maybe later.”

“You sure?” Nico asked, and Will nodded as his eyes started to slip shut. “Alright, get some rest, Sunshine. I’ll be making breakfast if you need me, okay?”

Will hummed, but his head had already fallen back against the pillows as he fell asleep once again. Nico held his lips against Will’s hairline and breathed out, “I love you,” before he climbed off Will’s lap and left the room.  

He made himself eggs for breakfast, and got Bianca a bowl of cereal when she woke up. After she ate, Bianca chose to return to her room to play, and Nico didn’t know what to do with himself - without his classes to keep him busy and with Bianca entertaining herself for a change, Nico was at a loss. He could clean, but he didn’t want to risk waking Will with any loud noises.

After pacing in the kitchen for about five minutes, Nico ended up going to the bookshelf in the guest room where he’d put all of his books when he moved in, and picked up his worn-out copy of  _ The Song of Achilles _ and his glasses _. _ He settled on the couch with his favorite book and enjoyed some time to relax without having to worry about anything for the first time in days.

He’d gotten a few chapters in by the time he heard a door creaking open down the hall, followed by the slow clicking of Will’s crutch as he moved closer. Will looked like he was heading for the kitchen, but he stopped as he was passing the living room when Nico called out to him, “Good morning, Sunshine.”

Will’s head snapped toward him with a startled look on his face, though he winced at the sudden movement, and slowly turned the rest of his body toward Nico as he stepped into the living room. “It’s so quiet in here, I didn’t even think you were here. Where’s Bi?” 

“Playing in her room,” Nico replied, and picked his feet off the couch to give Will room to sit down. There was still a pillow on the coffee table from last night, so when Will sat down, he immediately propped his leg up. Nico set his book aside and knelt on the cushion next to Will, gently combing his fingers through Will’s hair. Will leaned into the touch like a cat, his eyes sliding shut, and Nico realized just how tired he still was. “Did you manage to get any more sleep?”

“Not really,” Will replied in a small voice. 

“Is there anything I can do for you?”

Will cracked an eye open. “Hand me the remote?”

Nico let out a breathy laugh. “I meant, like, make breakfast or get you some painkillers, but alright.” Nico leaned away to grab the remote off the table, though he held it out of Will’s reach until he got a kiss. As Will turned on the TV and started clicking through channels, Nico picked up his book and resumed reading. He leaned against Will’s side, picking up his arm and draping it around his shoulders without so much as taking his eyes off the page. Will pressed a smiling kiss to the top of his head.

Relaxed in Will’s hold, Nico was just starting to get lost in his book when Will’s arm wound around his waist, his hand resting on Nico’s stomach, and pulled him tighter against him as he hid his face in Nico’s hair. “I dreamed about the accident.”

Nico shut his book without marking his place and set it aside, turning his full attention to Will by twisting his body around and draping his legs over Will’s lap. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Will’s hand fisted in the back of Nico’s t-shirt as he squeezed his eyes shut, as if to keep him grounded as he let the memories wash over him. “I was at the stoplight a block from the hospital,” his said. “The light turned green, so I went, but that...that other guy, he ran the red light and hit me. I think he hit the front of the car more than the side, but it was hard to tell, and I couldn’t breathe, and I think they had to cut the door off just to get me out--”

“Will,” Nico whispered, brushing his fingers across his fiance’s cheek, “you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

Will nodded and snapped his mouth shut. He took a few deep breaths through his nose before blinking his eyes open - they were red, like he’d been holding back tears.

Nico stared up into those blue eyes that he’d missed so much for another moment before glancing away nervously. “Feel free to say no, but...how would you feel about going to the junkyard to clean out your car?”

Will’s didn’t answer right away, and all Nico could think about was how he could possibly erase the sadness from Will’s eyes. Eventually, he nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, let’s do it.”

“Are you sure?” 

“We...  _I_ need to get it over with,” Will answered. “And it’ll give me a good excuse to stretch my legs. But…” He sighed, knocking his forehead against Nico’s. “I don’t want Bianca to see that. I don’t want her to know how bad it really was.”

“Okay. Yeah, of course. I’ll ask if Hazel can watch her for a little while. Do you want breakfast before we leave?”

 

Will seemed to be in a much better mood after breakfast. It might have had something to do with Bianca finally venturing out of her room to say hello, or maybe it was that Nico had tied his hair up before he made breakfast - Will commented on Nico’s ponytail so frequently that Nico didn’t know if he was genuinely teasing him or if it was a turn on for him. 

He was still noticeably anxious in the car, even more so after they’d dropped Bianca off with Hazel and Frank because he no longer felt the need to act brave for his daughter. It wasn’t a long drive to the junkyard, but Will was quiet for most of it.

It was difficult to find Will’s car among the other wreck, and even harder for Will to try to keep up with Nico’s pace while trying to walk on the uneven ground, but once they’d finally found it, Nico’s heart stopped. They’d passed some pretty nasty wrecks, though the cars surrounding Will’s were mostly too old and rusted out to be of use to anyone which only made Will’s car look even worse comparatively. 

From where Nico stood, he didn’t see a single piece of metal that hadn’t been wrinkled or punctured or broken off completely. The windshield was a spider web of cracks, and the driver’s door window had been busted out completely. The door itself wasn’t even on its hinges anymore, having been cut off because the damage had been too bad for the paramedics to get Will out otherwise. 

Nico’s hand closed around Will’s wrist as he felt his eyes starting to prick with tears. Will let go of the handle on his crutch to grasp Nico’s hand, squeezing it reassuringly.  _ It looks bad, but I’m still here, _ he said without so much as opening his mouth. 

“I knew it was bad,” Nico choked out. “I mean,  _ of course _ it was bad, but… This is kind of shocking, you know?”

“I know. Let’s just get this over with.”

They started with Nico pulling the door away from the side of the car so they had enough space to get inside. Nico brushed away a few tiny shards of glass that had landed on the seat before kneeling on the chair and popping open the console between the seats. He pulled out a phone charger and a pair of sunglasses, handing them back to Will, before reaching for the glove box.

As the door dropped open, a few wallet-sized pictures fell onto the floor, along with a few napkins. Nico leaned down to pick up one of the pictures, feeling simple printer paper between his fingers and seeing an unfamiliar picture when he turned it over.

Nico turned back to Will, moving fast enough that Will’s eyes lingered a second too long on where Nico had been a moment before. Nico, about to ask about the picture, smirked instead and asked, “What were you looking at?”

Will tilted his head and smiled sweetly. “Tight jeans and a nice ass.”

Nico shoved lightly at Will’s hip. “What’s this picture of me I’ve never seen before doing in your glove box?”

Will shrugged. “Lou wanted to see a picture of you, and I’m not allowed to have my phone on me during work.”

“You have her phone number, don’t you?” 

“I didn’t then.”

Nico turned the picture back to face himself. “When did you take this? I haven’t seen that shirt I’m wearing in  _ months. _ Is that--?” He gasped. “That’s the shirt that your washing machine ripped up! You took this before we even started dating!”

Will glanced off to the side, pink rising on his cheeks. 

“Oh my god,” Nico laughed, “you’re such a creep! I can’t believe I never knew you took this picture of me, when  _ was  _ this?”

Will ducked his head, suddenly incredibly interested in the shards of glass lying in the dirt, and mumbled, “Sometime around Bi’s career day, maybe?”

Nico stood up, rising onto his toes and pressing a chaste kiss to Will’s lips. “You had a crush on me,” Nico sang.

“Yeah, yeah,” Will said with a roll of his eyes. “So did you.”

“Still do.”

 

* * *

 

Nico had tucked Bianca into bed about ten minutes ago, and now sat with his head resting on Will’s good shoulder, legs thrown over Will’s lap. Will’s thumb rubbed slow circles into Nico’s hipbone, just barely slipping under the edge of his t-shirt. On the TV was some sitcom that neither of them had ever heard of before, though they weren’t really watching, simply enjoying each other’s company.

Nico tipped his head up, nose brushing against Will’s jaw as he did. “How are you feeling?”

Will looked down at him and bumped his nose against Nico’s. “Pretty good, I guess. Why?”

“It’s been a while since you’ve showered,” Nico reminded him. “If you’re feeling up to it, you might want to have one. Or a bath, maybe? Considering the cast, and all.”

Will pouted. “Is this your way of telling me that I smell?”

“I’m just stating a fact,” Nico said defensively. “If you don’t do it soon then you  _ will _ start to stink, but--”

“Babe,” Will cut in with a laugh, “I’m just teasing. I’d be up for a bath, as long as you join me.”

Nico lifted his legs off of Will’s lap, rising off the couch and holding out a hand for his fiance. “I  _ guess _ I can join you,” Nico said with false exasperation. “At least I’ll know you’re actually  _ bathing _ and not just soaking in dirty bath water for an hour.”

“So little faith.” Will shook his head as Nico pulled him to his feet before handing him his crutch. 

“Uh huh,” Nico hummed, leading Will toward the bathroom and guiding him carefully through the door. “I’ll be right back.”

Nico turned around, heading to their bedroom to gather a change of clothes for the both of them, and when he returned, Will was in the process of filling up the tub with warm water. He stood from where he was sitting on the edge of the tub, waiting as Nico closed the door and set down the clothes.

“Turn around so I can undo your sling,” Nico told him, twirling his finger in the air. Will turned his back to Nico, who undid the buckles on the sling, one that wrapped around Will’s shoulder and one that rounded low on his ribcage. As Nico pulled away the sling, setting it aside with their clothes, Will turned to face him, already unbuttoning his shirt with the use of both hands - his bad shoulder held stiff even without the help of the sling. As Will worked on the buttons on his shirt, Nico undid Will’s pants, carefully tugging them down and off around Will’s cast.

“Eager, aren’t you?” Will commented with a smirk. “My bathing was just another trick for you to undress me, wasn’t it?”

“Would you rather I let you hurt your shoulder by taking your own pants off?” Nico offered sarcastically. He reached up when Will finished with the buttons on his shirt, pulling the sleeve off his good arm and repeating the motion with the bad, though much slower and more careful.

Nico’s fingertips grazed Will’s skin, brushing around the scars from his surgeries, eyeing the still present bruising around the area. “Aren’t you not supposed to get stitches wet?” he asked, fingers lingering on Will’s chest.

“For a certain amount of time,” Will told him, fingering the bottom hem of Nico’s t-shirt. “These should be fine, but we’ll keep the water level low anyway, just in case. So long as they’re not submerged, there shouldn’t be a problem.”

“You’re sure?” Nico asked, looking up at him with concern.

“Of course I’m sure,” Will promised with a cocky smile. “I’m a doctor.”

Nico rolled his eyes, stepping back, and pulled his shirt off over his head. 

 

* * *

 

Will had been having a hard time sleeping ever since he’d come home from the hospital, so every morning Nico tried to leave their room as quietly as possible to give him as much time to rest as he could. He wasn’t sure if it was normal to have such trouble sleeping after such a traumatic experience, but the only person he could think to ask was Will, and that would involve waking him.

He made breakfast for Bianca and then sent her to her room to make sure she had everything she needed before her first day of summer school tomorrow. As he cleaned up the dishes from breakfast, Nico decided to call Annabeth, seeing as he hadn’t given her an update in a little while.

Without much greeting, Annabeth asked, “How’s Will?”

Nico propped the phone between his shoulder and his ear before dunking his hands into the sink filled with water. “He’s okay, I don’t think he slept much last night. I think he’s probably in a lot of pain but keeps insisting he’s fine and refuses to take any pain pills.”

“They’re pretty strong doses, aren’t they?” Annabeth asked. “He probably just doesn’t want to be completely drugged up all the time. It’s difficult to do things when you’re like that, things like, I don’t know, plan a wedding, maybe? And speaking of, should I be expecting a save-the-date card in the mail anytime soon?”

Nico sighed. “We haven’t talked about it much. I brought it up that first night when he came home, but I don’t even know if he remembers that. He might still think we’re just getting married  _ someday _ and not  _ soon. _ Summer school starts tomorrow, though, so we’ll have plenty of time to ourselves. Maybe I can talk to him about it then.”

“Every time I think you’re finally free enough to come over for dinner, something always comes up. You  _ are _ going to let some of us meet Will before the wedding, right?”

“Of course, but there’s just...a lot going on, you know?”

“But you’re going to make time for Sally to meet him, I’m sure,” Annabeth teased. “I bet you wouldn’t dream of marrying somebody before you got Sally’s approval.”

The plate slipped out of Nico’s hands, clattering into the sink and splashing water all over the front of Nico’s shirt as he spluttered. “I do not need Sally’s  _ approval!” _

“Sure you don’t.”

“Nico?” Will’s voice carried from across the house, and Nico heard the faint clicking of his crutch as he came down the hall. “Are you alright? I thought I heard a crash.”

Nico spun around, pulling the phone away from his ear for a second. “Huh? Yeah, I’m fine, just dropped a plate, nothing to worry about.” He brought the phone back to his ear and said, “Hey, Annabeth, I’ll talk to you later, okay? Will just woke up.”

Will shuffled closer, leaning heavily against him and pressing his face into Nico’s hair. Nico slipped an arm around Will’s waist, running his hand up and down Will’s spine soothingly.

“Annabeth says hi,” Nico told him.

“Hi, Annabeth,” Will mumbled. 

“Will says hi,” Nico said into the phone, then rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I love you too, I guess. Bye.”

“Have I met Annabeth?” Will asked around a yawn. “I don’t think I have.”

“You haven’t,” Nico answered, slipping his phone into his pocket. “But she wants to meet you. All of my friends do, actually. They also all keep bothering me for a wedding date, which we should probably talk about sometime soon.”

“Too tired,” Will sighed.

“Did you get any sleep last night?” Will shook his head. “What’s wrong, how can I help? Was it another nightmare?”

Will shook his head again. “You ever slept sitting up? ‘S not easy.”

Nico guided Will back out of the kitchen, bringing him over to the couch and sitting him down. He said a quick “be right back,” and ran to their room to change into a dry shirt, grab his laptop, a book, and his glasses. He returned to the couch, sitting back against one arm and pulling Will to lay back against his chest. Will relaxed almost immediately, sighing softly, already starting to drift off.

“Comfy?” Nico whispered, and Will nodded. Nico kissed his temple. “Sweet dreams, Sunshine.”

He ran his hand through Will’s hair a few times before carefully reaching for his book on the coffee table. He held it off to the side with one hand, reading as he continued stroking Will’s hair with his other hand.

 

When Will woke up, the first thing he saw was Nico’s computer on his lap, some movie he couldn’t remember the name of playing on the screen, though no sound was heard. Will reached out with his good hand, tapping the spacebar, and paused the video.

After a second, Nico set a pair of earbuds on the keyboard before running a hand through Will’s hair again. “Good morning, Sunshine. How’d you sleep?”

“Better,” Will answered softly. “Help me up?”

Nico removed the laptop of Will’s legs before sitting up from his slouch against the couch’s arm and helped Will get his feet on the ground. 

“Want me to get you some coffee?” Nico offered.

“I can get it,” Will told him, rising to his feet and stretching his good arm over his head. Nico hopped to his feet, following Will into the kitchen. “Where’s Bi?”

“I asked her to make sure all of her school stuff was packed up,” Nico replied, “but if I had to guess, I’d say that she’s been playing with her stuffed animals for a few hours.” He went to the fridge to pull out the cream for Will’s coffee, setting it on the counter near the coffee pot and pressing a kiss to Will’s cheek as he did so.

“We should all do something together,” Will said vaguely. 

“Okay,” Nico prompted, drawing out the word. “Like what?”

Will shrugged his good shoulder. “I dunno. We could go to the park or something. To spend some time together before Bi goes back to school. I bet she’d like to play outside instead of in her room, and I wouldn’t mind getting some fresh air.”

“Alright, sure. How about I pack up some sandwiches and we’ll make it a picnic?” Nico suggested.

Will glanced at him over his shoulder and smiled. “Sounds like a great idea.”

Will made his coffee as Nico started assembling sandwiches, grabbing bags of chips, bottles of water, anything else they would need for a picnic. He turned to see Will watching him as he sipped his coffee, and Nico said, “What, you’re just going to make me do everything?”

Will shot him an affronted look. “I’ve only got one hand, and I’m using it.”

Nico rolled his eyes. “You could put the coffee down for a second and tell Bianca that we’re leaving. Or maybe tell me where I can find a picnic basket, or a cooler, or something.”

Will sighed overdramatically and set his mug down noisily on the counter. “I guess, if I  _ have _ to.” He grabbed his crutch and took a few steps forward to press a kiss to the side of Nico’s head before he started down the hall. He called back over his shoulder, “And I don’t think we have a picnic basket.”

He knocked on Bianca’s door before opening it a crack and peeking inside. He smiled at his daughter when she looked up at him. “Hey, Bi, how would you feel about going on a picnic soon?”

Bianca jumped up and rushed toward him. “A real picnic? With a basket and a blanket and we’ll go to a park?”

“I don’t know about the basket or blanket, but we can go to a park, sure,” Will told her. “We’re gonna go pretty soon, so why don’t you get dressed, okay?”

“Okay!” Bianca replied, and Will shut the door as he left to go change out of his own pajamas. 

Since the accident, Nico had helped him dress and undress whenever he needed, and while the help was appreciated, Will wanted to prove that he could still do some things for himself. It was tough to gather the clothes to change into, but the process only gained difficulty from there - he could barely manage to get his shorts on over his cast, and buttoning them with one hand was nearly impossible, but at least he’d managed. The shirt, however, was another problem altogether. He could barely reach the clips that held the sling together over his shoulder and around his ribcage, and he ended up twisting his arm uncomfortably just to get them undone. He wasn’t sure how he would manage to pull the shirt off over his head without moving his arm, and he quickly found himself stuck in his shirt with a sharp pain spiking across the left side of his chest.

“Will!” Nico exclaimed from across the room, and Will had to twist to see where he was - when he moved, he felt a shock of pain through his ribs. “Babe, stop. What are you doing?”

“I was trying to change, but...I think I’m stuck.”

“Will,” Nico said again, though it came out more exasperated than the last time. He guided Will’s hand through his sleeve, then pulled the shirt over his head before carefully slipping it off Will’s injured arm. “You’re gonna hurt yourself if you try that again. Why didn’t you ask me for help?”

“Hey, I changed my pants on my own without a problem,” Will pointed out, and Nico huffed. “I thought I could handle it.”

Nico frowned. “Just let me help next time, okay? It’s not like it’s an inconvenience for me to give you a hand for a second, and I don’t want you to hurt yourself again.”

“Please, I know this is just another one of your tricks to see me naked,” Will joked, but Nico knew by the tone of his voice that he understood. 

“I don’t need  _ tricks,” _ Nico replied with a wink as he went to pick out one of Will’s button-down shirts from the closet.

“Where are you going? I already have a shirt.”

“I’m not going to let you hurt yourself trying to take off another t-shirt later when I’m not looking. Besides, you look hot in this one.” He pulled a shirt - short sleeve and navy blue - off its hanger and held it up for Will to see.

Will cocked his head to the side with a frown. “I thought that was yours.”

“Is that why you never wear it?” 

“I don’t ever remember owning such a dark shirt.”

Nico brought the shirt over to him, kneeling on the bed next to his fiance and throwing his other leg over Will’s lap as Will’s arm wrapped around his waist to hold him there. Will watched him with a soft gaze, the corner of his mouth quirking up just barely.

“Dark colors look good on you. Now, are you just going to stare at me, or are you going to put on the shirt?” Nico asked. Will rolled his eyes but allowed Nico to push one sleeve up his injured arm and then across to the other. He pressed his lips to Will’s as he straightened the shirt, and Will followed him as he tried to pull away. As Will licked his way into Nico’s mouth, his arm winding around him again to press him close, Nico worked on buttoning Will’s shirt up to the collar. Nico pulled them apart after a couple more lingering kisses, and glanced down at Will’s collar, straightening it then unbuttoning the top button and then even one more down before deeming him good. He kissed Will once more before leaning back. “Perfect.”

Once Will’s sling was back in place and Nico had gotten dressed for the park, they returned to the kitchen where Nico had packed up their lunches in a tote bag. Bianca came out of her room not much later, and the three left for the park. 

Bianca had run straight for the play structures as soon as they arrived, while Nico and Will found a picnic table close enough that they could keep an eye out for her. Just as Nico had settled down against Will’s side, Bianca ran over to them, practically begging Nico to push her on the swing. Of course, Nico had agreed, and pressed a kiss to Will’s cheek with a, “Try not to miss me too much,” before turning to Bianca to say, “I’ll race you there.” He jumped off the bench and started running, Bianca chasing after him and giggling like a maniac. 

Will relaxed on the bench, content to sit back and watch seeing as he couldn’t really participate on the fun, and after only a few moments he heard a voice beside him asking, “Excuse me, do you mind if I sit for a minute?”

Will looked up to see a blonde woman standing at the other end of the bench. “Sure, go ahead.”

The woman sighed in relief and dropped down onto the bench, looking exhausted. “Thank you! Every other seat around the playground is filled up, and I just needed a  _ rest, _ you know? I thought I was tired when my son wasn’t sleeping through the night, but now he’s four and he’s got more energy than a… Than… God, I’m so tired, I don’t even know what I’m saying.”

“I get it,” Will said with a laugh. “When my daughter was three I thought she had superspeed. She ran around so fast, I could barely keep track of her.”

“Which one is yours?” the woman asked, drawing her foot up onto the bench to tie her shoe.

Will pointed toward the swings. “Over there, my fiance is pushing her on the swing.”

The woman gasped, and Will braced himself for whatever insults she might throw his way, but then she said, “Oh my god, he is  _ gorgeous! _ And your daughter is adorable! The three of you are like a picture perfect family, you’re so lucky!”

Will ducked his head and smiled. “Thank you. Which one is yours?”

“Oh! He’s--” The woman jumped up. “Oh, no! He just fell off the monkey bars, I’m so sorry, I’ve gotta run.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Will said, but the woman was already gone.

He turned his attention back to the swings, watching as Bianca’s swing started to lose momentum before she jumped off at a low height - still high enough to give Will a mini heart attack - and started back toward him. 

“It’s lunchtime, Daddy!” she announced, and sat down on the opposite bench of the picnic table. 

As Will twisted around to face the table, Nico sat down beside him and started digging through the tote bag. He handed Bianca a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a small bag of pretzels. He held out two sandwiches toward Will and asked, “Ham or turkey?”

“Whichever one you don’t want,” Will told him, and Nico narrowed his eyes. “Fine. Turkey.”

 

* * *

 

It was Bianca’s first day of summer school, and Nico wasn’t ready. He didn’t know what his problem was - it wasn’t like this was his first time ever dropping her off at school, but something about this was  _ different. _

Will had gone with them and seemed perfectly content to leave his daughters with these  _ strangers, _ but Nico couldn’t seem to let Bianca out of his embrace. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and said, “I love you, Princess. We’ll be back soon to pick you up, okay?”

“Okay,” Bianca said, practically  _ pushing Nico away. _ As she started toward the building, she waved back at them and called, “Bye Nico, bye Daddy! I love you!”

Nico stood up, his heart breaking, and leaned against Will’s side. “How are you not affected by this? Am I marrying a heartless man?”

“Of course not,” Will said with a laugh. “I’ve just done this a few times already.”

Nico finally managed to pry his eyes away from the school doors - Bianca had long walked into the building - and glanced up at Will. “Is this what you were like when you dropped her off at school for the first time?”

“Oh, no. I was  _ way _ worse. I cried for, like, twenty minutes, and then I had to run to my own class because I was still in med school at the time.”

Nico cracked a smile, and dropped his head to rest against Will’s chest, sadly gazing across the parking lot at the school once more. 

Will ran his hand up and down Nico’s back. “Hey,” he said before pressing a kiss to the top of Nico’s head, “I know what might cheer you up.” He waited until Nico looked up at him once more, and grinned. “Let’s plan a wedding.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey everyone i feel like it's been a million years when its really only been like a month but anyway im either posting this during my week of classes or after i'm already home and applying for jobs but just a warning: on top of trying to finish i'm in hell, i'm participating in the PJO/HOO Big Bang!! so I'll be working on that as much as if not more than I'm in hell. also, it'll be summer so hopefully i'll have a bunch of time to sit around and write, but also i'll be home with my friends and also job hunting so we'll see how much work i actually manage to do in the next 3 months  
> anyway long message over i hope you enjoy this chapter!!  
> EDIT: i just. never posted this i guess so sorry it's late but like if you got this far into the notes then you'll know why it's late

“I want to get married in a church.” 

Nico’s head spun toward Will in surprise, the pencil in his hand halting over the notebook on his lap. They’d started up a to-do list in order start their wedding planning without overwhelming themselves right off the bat, though they’d just barely started talking about dates, not locations.

“Is that okay?” Will asked, turning his head to catch Nico’s gaze. “I’ve been dreaming about getting married in a church since I was, like, nine. I know it might be tricky to find a church that will have us, but--”

“I’d love that,” Nico told him, and set a hand along his jaw to draw him in for a gentle kiss. “What else did you have in mind?”

Will pressed his lips to Nico’s once more, then the corner of his mouth, trailing across his cheek to his jaw and then whispering in his ear, “I want to hold your hand as we walk down the aisle together, I want you to make me cry with how beautiful your vows are, and I want my first dance with you to be to the cheesiest song we can think of.”

“Will…” Nico breathed, his fingers tangling in Will’s hair and holding him close as Will started to kiss a line down his neck.

“I want the reception to be at some hotel so that we can sneak up to the honeymoon suite when we get tired of all the people, and hide there for a few days so I can prove to my husband how much I love him.”

_ “Will,” _ Nico moaned as Will’s teeth grazed his skin. He tugged on Will’s hair, pulling him back until their eyes met again - the blue of Will’s eyes had practically been swallowed by the dilation of his pupils - and Nico said, “No, Will. Not yet, not until you’re better.”

Will whined and dropped his forehead against Nico’s. “I feel  _ fine.” _

“You get your cast off next week, right? You don’t want to jeopardize your healing before that, do you? I know that if  _ I _ were the one with the broken bones, you wouldn’t let  _ me _ seduce you before I was cleared by a doctor. You wouldn’t want to set a bad example, would you?’

Will pouted. “I hate you.”

“You love me, or else you wouldn’t be planning a wedding with me right now. Now, how about we narrow this down to a season?”

Will hummed and leaned over to rest his head against Nico’s shoulder. “Let’s see: summer’s almost over, fall’s a little too soon to do any planning, but spring’s too far away. How do you feel about winter?”

“That doesn’t sound like you’re giving me much of a choice,” Nico joked, but Will gasped in offense. 

“Of  _ course _ you have a choice!”

“Maybe I want a spring wedding,” Nico teased. “Or summer, even. Ooh, but I bet our wedding pictures would look  _ amazing _ with all the changing leaves, so now I’m thinking fall.”

“Alright, now you’re just being mean,” Will grumbled. “I thought we were on the same page of getting married as soon as possible?”

“We are, but I’m not the one that refused to go down to the courthouse and just get it over with,” Nico reminded him.

Will lifted his head and glared at his fiance. “That’s not a wedding and you  _ know it.” _

“It is for some people. Not everybody can afford a big wedding.”

“Yeah, well, I’m a  _ doctor, _ and I only plan on doing this once, so we’re doing it right.”

“You really know how to sweep a man off his feet, don’t you?” Nico said with a roll of his eyes.

Will huffed. “Fine, do the planning yourself, why don’t you?” He crossed his arm underneath his sling and stared at the wall away from Nico.

“Aw, babe, c’mon, I was joking,” Nico said. He pulled his laptop off the coffee table and opened it up, already typing by the time he spoke again. “Here, we’ll look at churches and we’ll find the one we like the best - and that will have us - and whatever their first available date is, that’s the day we’ll pick.”

Will turned back to him with a bright grin, and realization hit Nico like a slap to the face. 

“You  _ tricked  _ me!” Nico shouted.

“I did! And you  _ totally _ fell for it!” 

 

* * *

 

On the last day of Bianca’s first week of summer school, Will had a doctor’s appointment to which Nico had to drive him. It was mostly just so that Clarisse could remove Will’s cast and tell him officially that he didn’t need to keep his arm in the sling anymore, though she also made it clear that he should still take it easy for the next week or so. She set him up with a physical therapist, too, so before they left the hospital they went to meet Will’s physical therapist and schedule an appointment. 

By the time they were finally leaving - they’d run into Lou Ellen as she was leaving the physical therapist, and Nico saw her walking around for the first time since they’d met - it was time to pick Bianca up from school. 

“I was thinking that I might go back to work a couple days early so I can get back into the swing of things,” Will said as Nico pulled out of the hospital parking lot. “Not for full days, of course, and no surgeries, but to catch up on paperwork and get myself moving again.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? Clarisse said to wait a week,” Nico reminded him. 

“I won’t be doing anything strenuous.”

“You don’t have your own car, either.”

“Sounds like somebody doesn’t want me to go back to work,” Will said as he reached over and slid his hand onto Nico’s thigh, though Nico slapped it away immediately -  _ not while he was driving. _

“Of course I don’t,” Nico replied, his lips twisting up into a smile, though he kept his eyes on the road. “I’ll miss you. I’ve gotten used to having you around, after all.”

Will hummed. “I suppose I can wait to go back, but we’ll have to add car shopping to our to-do list.”

_ “Our _ to-do list?  _ I _ already have a car.”

“And  _ I  _ thought you liked doing stuff with me,” Will countered, placing his hand on Nico’s thigh again.

Nico sighed and lifted the hand away, setting it back on Will’s lap before reaching a few inches further to pinch the sensitive skin on the inside of Will’s thigh.

_ “Ow! _ Hey!” Will exclaimed, flinching away as Nico started to laugh, returning his hand to the steering wheel. 

“That’s what you get for trying to distract me while I’m driving.”

 

When they returned home with Bianca, Will made sure Bianca got started with her homework right away - it was a much lighter load since it was just summer school - while Nico searched the fridge and pantry in an attempt to figure out what they would eat for dinner.

As he was looking, he felt a pair of arms snake around his waist from behind and a pair of lips rest against his shoulder. 

“Yes?” Nico asked as he brought one of his hands to rest over Will’s arm on his stomach, and felt as Will held him just a little bit tighter. 

He hummed for a moment before whispering into Nico’s shoulder, “I’ve missed this.”

As Will began to kiss a line from his shoulder and up his neck to Nico’s ear, Nico asked, “Missed what?”

“Holding you like this.” He pressed a kiss to the shell of Nico’s ear, and sighed as he leaned his head against Nico’s. 

Nico smiled to himself and allowed the contact for another moment before saying, “You’re about to miss it again.”

Will’s hold tightened again as he let out a soft and whiny,  _ “No.” _

_ “Yes, _ I need to make dinner.”

“Fine,” Will replied, and allowed Nico to pull himself free of his hold. “Can I help?”

Nico realized his mistake in saying yes when Will started leaving him little touches - fingers brushing against the small of his back whenever Will moved around him, a hand on his waist as Will peeked over his shoulder to see what he was doing - that hinted at Will having something more in mind. As soon as Bianca finished her homework and went to put her backpack away in her room, Will attached himself to Nico’s back, instantly trailing sloppy kisses over his neck. Nico shivered at the feeling of Will’s stubble scratching across his skin. 

_ “Will.” _ Nico had tried to sound stern, but Will had bitten down on his skin just as he opened his mouth which made him practically moan the name. 

“I’ve missed this too,” Will said into Nico’s ear, his voice low. With one hand, Will brushed Nico’s hair from the back of his neck as his lips started to attack the skin, and his other hand found Nico’s hip as his thumb started rubbing slow circles over the bone. 

“I’m trying to make dinner,” Nico reminded him, though his voice came out breathy and he found himself leaning back against Will’s chest. 

“So make dinner,” Will said, and moved on to the other side of Nico’s neck. One of his hands trailed down Nico’s arm to tug the hair tie off his wrist, and Will pulled back for a moment to tie Nico’s hair into a bun. He then returned his lips to Nico’s neck, now with two free hands to trail across every part of Nico he could reach. 

He let Will continue for another moment before he straightened himself back up and turned to face his fiance. He grabbed Will’s face, pulling him down to bring Will’s lips to meet his for nowhere near long enough before holding Will back again. 

“You have to stop,” Nico whispered, “or else Bianca’s going to come looking for dinner and find us in the middle of something that she is  _ far _ too young to see.”

Will’s hands tightened on Nico’s hips, though after a second he sighed and stepped back. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Nico turned back around to resume cooking, though he could feel Will’s eyes on his back, like he was tracking Nico’s every move. He bit his lip as he thought out his next words carefully, finally settling on, “I can call Hazel, to...you know, schedule a sleepover, maybe?” He winced as soon as the words were out of his mouth, realizing too late how desperate that may have made him sound. 

Though nowhere near as desperate as the  _ “Please,” _ Will let out only a second later. 

 

Will couldn’t have been happier to be laying in bed. He’d flopped down on his back, starfished across the mattress and barely leaving enough room for Nico to sit down beside him. 

“I’m gonna sleep  _ so _ well tonight,” Will announced. 

Nico rolled his eyes and poked Will in the side. “Do I need to leave you alone with the bed for a little while so you can get reacquainted?”

“Absolutely not,” Will said, and reached out for whatever part of Nico he could reach, which happened to be the front of his shirt, and tugged him closer. “I’d love to get reacquainted with  _ you, _ though.”

Nico grinned and allowed Will to pull him closer, straddling Will’s stomach as he laid down on top of his fiance and leaned down to kiss him. Will’s hands immediately moved to his waist then travelled over his back. He reached for the tie in Nico’s hair and pulled it loose to run his fingers through it.

Will broke the kiss to whisper, “I love your hair.”

“Really? You don’t think I should get it cut anytime soon? It’s getting awfully long.”

Will tightened his hold on Nico before flipping them, and covered Nico with his full weight.  _ “Never.” _ He tugged his hands out from underneath Nico and went straight for his jeans, tugging them open before Nico reached down to pull Will’s hands away.

“Will, you’re not healed yet,” Nico reminded him, lacing their fingers together. Will pressed Nico’s hands into the mattress on either side of his head, pinning him down as Will held himself over him. “Clarisse said to take it easy for the next week, and this is  _ not _ taking it easy.”

Will groaned and dropped down again, hiding his face in the side of Nico’s neck. “But I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you, too, Babe,” Nico told him, “but I’m not having sex with you tonight.”

Will sighed and released Nico’s hands to wrap his arms around him as best he could while laying on top of him. “Then I hope you’re comfy, because sex or not, you’re still not allowed to leave this spot.”

“Not even to put on pajamas?” Nico asked with a laugh. 

“Nope.”

“What about to brush my teeth?” Nico tried again innocently, and Will lifted his head up to glare at him. “You wouldn’t let me go to bed without brushing my teeth, would you?”

“Why don’t you love me anymore?”

Nico snorted, and Will rolled off of him. “You know I love you.” He leaned over to kiss Will’s cheek before he climbed out of bed and dropped his already opened pants once he was standing.

Will groaned and shoved his face into his pillow. “Now you’re just teasing me.” 

“Sunshine, c’mon,” Nico said, reaching over to poke his arm. “Get up, come with me.”

Will rolled out of bed with a huff but followed Nico to the bathroom to brush their teeth. 

“You know, when you’re done brushing your teeth, you could shave,” Nico suggested, “now that you have two working hands, and all.”

Will wrapped an arm around Nico’s waist and pressed his lips to the juncture between Nico’s neck and shoulder, rubbing his stubble against the skin. “You love it.”

“You can’t prove that.”

Afterwards, they returned to the bedroom, changed into their pajamas, and crawled back into bed. Nico pulled Will in for a lingering kiss, and when he pulled away it was just far enough for him to speak.

“Tell you what, Sunshine,” Nico whispered, “I’ll call Hazel tomorrow and ask if Bianca can spend the night on Friday. That’s just four days away instead of a whole week, and in the meantime, we’ll get as much wedding planning done as possible. Deal?”

Will draped an arm around Nico’s waist and tugged him closer. “Deal. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

 

* * *

 

Nico realized his mistake in letting Will come with him to drop Bianca off at Hazel and Frank’s once they were driving back. Will’s hand had started by innocently resting on Nico’s knee before slowly travel to stroke up his thigh - while Nico was trying to  _ drive, dammit! _

Will pressed himself against Nico’s back as he fumbled with his keys in the door, and Will pressed their lips together sloppily when Nico paused inside to kick off his shoes. They stayed attached at the mouth as they stumbled further into the house, tugging at each others’ clothes and hair as they went, until they finally reached the bedroom and tumbled onto the bed.

“Have I ever told you how hot you look in a tank top?” Will asked as he kneeled over his fiance, admiring the way he was spread out before him. 

“Only every day this week,” Nico replied. 

“Still hotter without,” Will continued, and shoved Nico’s shirt up to reveal his chest. Will darted down to lick a stripe from Nico’s belly button up to his chest, pulling a gasp from him. Will pulled Nico’s shirt off of him entirely and started licking and biting and sucking along his collarbone as Nico tugged at Will’s shirt until he got the hint to pull it off. Nico’s fingers tangled in Will’s curls as he continued working Nico’s skin between his teeth, intentionally rubbing his stubble against Nico’s skin to draw out shivers from him, and started removing Nico’s pants. “I told you you liked the stubble.”

Nico flipped their positions in order to kick his pants off completely before starting on Will’s. He pressed a line of kisses along the surgical scar on Will’s ribcage before moving down his stomach, smirking up at him as he finally tugged down Will’s pants. “Shut up, Sunshine.”

 

Hazel had had her suspicions as to why Nico had suddenly asked if Bianca could come over for a sleepover, and those suspicions had only been confirmed when she saw Will without his cast and sling when he dropped Bianca off - but  _ nothing _ had prepared her for seeing the aftermath. 

Nico had just walked through the door, looking blissed out and utterly exhausted. Hazel rolled her eyes at the sight. “Did you get  _ any _ sleep last night?” she asked. 

Nico smiled dopily and ran a hand through his hair, unintentionally revealing a line of hickies along his neck. “Not really.”

Hazel sighed and turned her back to him, heading toward the kitchen and calling back to him, “C’mon, you need coffee.”

“I already had some,” he replied around a yawn, but followed anyway. 

“You need more. Take a seat, it’ll just be a few minutes.” She gestured to the table as she walked past, and Nico eyed the chairs before shaking his head.

“I’ll stand.”

For a second, Hazel didn’t respond, but when he glanced over her shoulder at her brother and saw him grinning, she cringed. “Ugh, gross! I do  _ not _ need to hear about that!”

“I didn’t say a thing!”

“You said enough.”

Hazel took a mug down from the cabinet and filled it with coffee once the pot had finished brewing, then set it on the island in front of her brother. “So, where’s Will? Actually sleeping like normal people do?”

Nico stopped with the mug held in front of his face, halfway hiding his smug grin when he said, “Doing laundry.”

Hazel buried her face in her hands.  _ “Why do I even ask?” _

Nico laughed so hard that the had to set his coffee back down to avoid spilling it. 

“I can’t  _ wait _ for everybody to embarrass you in front of Will,” Hazel said. “It’ll be the payback you deserve.”

“What do you mean,  _ everybody?” _ Nico asked.

Hazel lifted her head from her hands and raised an eyebrow at him. “Don’t tell me you forgot.  _ Montauk? _ Labor Day is in two weeks, Nico, you’d better hope Sally reserved a cabin for you.”

“Oh,  _ shit. _ Yeah, I completely forgot.  _ Damn, _ what if Will can’t get the time off? He’s supposed to go back to work on Monday.”

“It’s just one weekend, I’m sure it won’t be that big of a deal,” Hazel assured him. “Drink your coffee. I’m going to go make sure Frank is helping Bianca pack her stuff up. You should text Sally and check on your reservation.”

“Thanks, Hazel,” Nico said, and took a long drink of his coffee before flinching.  _ “Shit,  _ that’s  _ hot!” _

 

When Nico and Bianca returned home, Bianca went to unpack in her room while Nico went to find Will asleep on their unmade bed with the windows open to air the place out.

Nico collapsed on the bed beside him, and even in his sleep Will automatically gravitated toward him, wrapping an arm around Nico’s waist and pulling him close. Nico began running his fingers through Will’s hair, watching as he slowly woke up and smiled softly when he finally saw those beautiful blue eyes. 

“Good morning, Sunshine,” Nico whispered, and Will’s eyes slipped shut again as he pressed his lips to Nico’s forehead and repeated the sentiment. “Too tired to put the sheets back on the bed?”

“They’re in the drier,” Will replied. 

“You have other sheets, don’t you?”

Will shushed him and tugged him even closer until they were fully pressed against each other.

Before Will could fall back asleep, Nico said, “Will?” He hummed in response to show he was listening. “Do you want to meet my friends?”

“You have friends?”

Nico huffed, feeling the smile the Will pressed into his forehead. “Shut up. Do you want to meet them or not?”

“Of course I do, Darling.”

“Okay, so, every year for Labor Day, we rent out a bunch of cabins in Montauk,” Nico explained. “I kind of forgot about it until Hazel reminded me this morning, and I know it’s kind of late notice, but--”

“You think I’m gonna say no to a weekend on the beach with you?” Will asked. “I’d love to go.”

“Yeah?” Nico asked. “Okay, I have to go call Sally, then.” He darted up to press a kiss to Will’s lips before pulling away and jumping out of bed.

“You have a friend named Sally?” Will asked, but Nico was already out of the room. Will sighed. He should probably get up, anyway.

 

* * *

 

They tried to finish as much of the wedding planning as possible before Will returned to work, knowing that once Will got back into the swing of things that they were barely see each other between then and the wedding. They did have to call in help eventually - Annabeth and Piper had both had suggestions on caterers and bakeries and a few other assorted things, though Nico had relied on Reyna for a lot of things. It was her that had had the idea to make reservations and deposits in her name so that nothing could be connected back to Will - thus, Apollo hopefully wouldn’t be able to track them down again. 

They had a lot left to do, but with a few more months left until the wedding, they had some time to relax.

Will had started working half-days to ease himself back into the job, and had finally gotten himself a new car so that Nico didn’t have to drive him around anymore. 

Nico still wasn’t used to Will being able to drive around on his own despite the fact that he had only been without a car for about two months, and was surprised to see Will sitting on the couch when Nico got back from picking Bianca up from school. Will had his laptop on his lap and one foot propped up on the coffee table when Nico walked up behind him and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. 

“Hey, Babe, I wasn’t expecting to see you so soon,” Nico said. “Is your foot bothering you again?”

Will tipped his head back with a questioning hum, and then lifted his foot off the table. “Oh, no, it’s fine, just a habit now I guess.” 

Nico pressed a kiss to his head and said, “Glad to see you finally shaved.”

“I know you liked it,” Will shot back, and Nico winked as he started to walk away. Before he could get out of reach, though, Will reached out for his hand and said, “Hey, wait, what’s your middle name?”

Nico raised an eyebrow at him. “Why do you need it?”

Will turned his laptop screen to face Nico, revealing the wedding invitations he’d been working on since he got home from work. 

“Why do we need our full names on the invite?” Nico asked, stepping closer. “I mean, it’s not like you go by  _ William _ and nobody calls me  _ Niccolo.” _

Will’s eyes widened as he gazed up at his fiance. “Your name is  _ Niccolo?” _

 

* * *

 

Will was supposed to be packing, but kept finding himself sidetracked. He’d had to help Bianca first, and another time he’d stopped for a snack, and had remembered to check the mail for the first time all week - which was how he’d found a big, thick envelope with Nico’s name on it and still had yet to pack a single t-shirt.

Obviously, he couldn’t open Nico’s mail without his permission, and even though he knew what it was by the size of the envelope and the name of the sender, that didn’t make him any less eager to see it opened. 

Nico walked into the kitchen while Will was staring down at the envelope, and alerted Will to his presence by sighing loudly.  _ “Please _ tell me you finished packing,” he said. 

Will turned to face him with a grin, one that apparently told Nico that he hadn’t made any progress at all since the last time he asked.

“Will, we’re supposed to leave in five minutes,” Nico reminded him. 

“I know, I know, and I’ll start packing as soon as you open this,” he replied, stepping closer and holding out the envelope. 

_ “Start?” _ Nico repeated, but Will didn’t respond this time, simply smiling a little brighter. Nico took the envelope and ripped it open carelessly, not even looking at it as he did so, and frowned when he reached inside. His eyes widened as he realized what it was. “I can’t believe I forgot about this, I thought it got lost in the mail months ago.”

“Aren’t you going to let me see?” Will asked.

Nico held the envelope against his chest protectively. “Start packing and I’ll show you.”

“Show me, and I’ll start packing,” Will shot back with a grin. Two could play at this game.

Nico’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll show you when you’re  _ done _ packing, but I suppose I can read it to you.” He pulled the letter out from the envelope, leaving the rest of the contents inside, and started to read. “Dear Mr. di Angelo, as you were unable to attend the ceremony, blah blah blah--”

“Hey, you said you would read it to me,” Will cut in, “so I want to hear  _ all _ of it.”

“I’m not reading this  _ whole page, _ Will,” Nico argued, and picked back up in a different paragraph. “We are proud to present you with this diploma, blah blah blah, degree in creative writing… sincerely some guy from NYU.”

Suddenly, Will’s hands were on his face, tilting his head up and guiding their lips together. After a moment, he pulled away and wrapped his arms around Nico’s waist. He lifted him off the ground, spinning him around a couple of times and causing Nico to drop the envelope while he complained loudly. 

“I’m so proud of you!” Will exclaimed, and finally set Nico back on his feet.

“Please, it’s not that big of a deal,” Nico replied, unable to hold back his laughter as he tried to shove Will away - though he more rested his hands against Will’s chest rather than  _ really _ tried to push him away. 

_ “Of course it is! _ This is physical proof that you’re smart and talented and dedicated, and it  _ is _ a big deal. I’m  _ so _ proud of you, Darling, and I love you so much.” He dropped his forehead against Nico’s and beamed down at him, his voice softening as he said, “I’m marrying a college graduate.”

Nico rolled his eyes, though he wrapped his arms around Will’s shoulders to keep him close. “Yeah, yeah, and I’m marrying a doctor. Can you  _ please _ start packing now?”

“Yeah, I will. You said I have five minutes, right? I can  _ totally _ get packed in time.”

Nico peeked over his shoulder at the clock on the microwave and said, “Actually, it’s two minutes now, so you better hurry up.”

“Easy.”

Nico stepped back, allowing Will plenty of space to get past him so he could start packing. “You think you can pack everything you need for a weekend on the beach in  _ two minutes?” _

Will had made it halfway down the hallway before he turned to grin at Nico, calling back to him, “Time me, Babe!”

Thirty minutes later - and yes, Nico  _ was _ timing him - Nico and Bianca were laying back on the bed, their bags already loaded into Will’s new car. Will had yet to finish packing, and Bianca had started playing games on Will’s phone while they waited. Once they hit the thirty-minute mark, Nico decided to call ahead to let everyone know that they would be late, so he FaceTimed Annabeth, though Percy answered her phone.

“Neeks!” he exclaimed upon seeing him, and Nico rolled his eyes at the nickname. He would be hearing a lot of that name over the next few days. “Where are you? I thought you would be here by now!”

_ “Somebody _ doesn’t know how to pack, so we’re going to be late,” Nico responded. 

“You’d think after all those years of summer camp, you’d have learned how to pack by now,” Percy told him, and behind him Nico could see a clear blue sky and a sandy beach.

“Not me, you idiot,” Nico said with a roll of his eyes, and switched to the phone’s back camera, pointing at Will who was currently loading up his suitcase. 

Percy whistled approvingly. “Damn, Neeks, you sure know how to pick ‘em.”

“Watch your language,” Nico said, feeling his face heating up slightly, “and shut up.”

“Nico, don’t say that, it’s mean!” Bianca said, not even looking up from the game she was playing on Will’s phone.

“Sorry,” Nico muttered, flipping back to the front camera as Percy said, “What? Who was that?”

“Oh, did I forget to tell you that I have a daughter, Percy?” Nico asked innocently. “That’s so weird, must’ve completely slipped my mind somehow. Anyway, Will’s done packing, so we’ll see you in a few hours, bye!”

As Nico hung up the phone, Will looked up at him with a frown from where he was still, in fact, packing. “What was that about?”

“It’ll be funny, trust me,” Nico promised. “Now are you almost done yet?”

“I think I have everything, I just need to put it all in here,” Will replied, and Nico eyed the stacks of clothes and things skeptically, knowing that there was a  _ very _ slim chance that everything would fit. 

“Nico, will Aunt Hazel and Uncle Frank be there?” Bianca asked, still playing her game. 

Nico and Will exchanged a look before Nico turned to her and answered, “Yeah, Princess, they’ll be there. How long have you been calling them aunt and uncle?”

“Since when we had that sleepover last time,” Bianca answered. 

“Did they ask you to call them that, or did you choose to?” Will asked. 

“I want to,” Bianca said, “because if Nico’s my dad now too, and Hazel is his sister, then she’s Aunt Hazel. Right?”

“Yeah, that’s right, Bi,” Will said, smiling at Nico, while the other’s heart nearly burst. Bianca had never outright called Nico her dad before, not outside of their adoption conversation, and Nico could hardly believe that Bianca  _ actually _ thought of him as her dad.

Nico rolled onto his side and pressed a kiss to Bianca’s head. “I love you, Princess.”

“I love you, too, Nico,” she replied.

He felt like he was about to cry.

Another fifteen minutes later, Will had finally stuffed everything into his suitcase and was carrying it toward the door when Nico stopped him in the hallway. He wrapped his arms around Will and buried his face in Will’s chest.

“I thought you were eager to leave,” Will said, and Nico hummed. “She called you her dad.”

“She did,” Nico whispered.

“How jealous are your friends going to be when they find out that Frank and Hazel are aunt and uncle when the rest of them aren’t?”

“Oh, they’d be  _ so _ jealous, but…” Nico tipped his head up to look at Will. “They’ve all said that I would be an uncle to their kids, so don’t you think I should do the same?”

“I think that’s a great idea. It’ll be nice for Bianca to know she has aunts and uncles that aren’t just the siblings I barely know.”

Nico smiled softly. “We should meet them sometime, don’t you think?”

“Let’s focus on your family first.”

 

Nico had not experienced a three hour drive with a seven year old since he himself was a seven year old. He wasn’t sure how Will had survived the drive from Nashville to New York with how often Bianca complained that she was bored, and Nico thought it was just some television joke that kids asked how much longer the drive would be,  _ every twenty minutes. _

Nico tried to help pass the time by telling Bianca and Will as much as he could about his friends before they arrived in Montauk, but most of the things he could think to say would be better to discover in person. 

In reality, it wasn’t all that long before they were pulling off the main road, driving alongside a familiar beach and parking near cabins that Nico knew like the back of his hand. As far as Nico could tell by looking at the other cars parked nearby, just about everyone else had already arrived, and Nico was starting to get a bit nervous.

What if Will didn’t like any of his friends? What if his friends didn’t like Will? He knew he said that he didn’t need Sally’s approval,  _ but what if Sally didn’t like Will? _ Nico had started to work himself up so much that he didn’t even notice when the car was finally parked and shut off. 

Will’s voice finally shook Nico out of his thoughts. “This is the place, right?” Nico could only nod, afraid of what he might say if he opened his mouth. Will reached for the door, about to exit the car, when he grabbed Nico’s hand. “Your friends are gonna like me, right?” he asked nervously, and Nico realized that there was nothing to be afraid of.

He pulled Will’s hands up to his lips and kissed his knuckles. “They’d be stupid not to.”

They opted to leave their bags in the car for the time being, and headed toward the ring of lawn chairs around an unlit fire pit where all of Nico’s friends were gathered. They were laughing and chatting until someone noticed them approaching, and suddenly everyone was out of their seats and rushing toward them. 

Nico squeezed Will’s hand reassuringly. “Don’t be nervous.”

“Shut up, you’re nervous too,” Will shot back. “Don’t think I can’t tell.”

“I’m fine,” Nico said, “everything’s fine.” He felt Bianca grab his other hand has she hid herself behind him.

Will laughed. “Sure.”

A whistle drew their attention back to the matter at hand, and Will saw a tall, tan, dark-haired man eyeing him up and down appreciatively, making Will tense uncomfortably. 

“Damn, Neeks--”

“Language,” Nico cut in, though the other didn’t even hesitate.

“--the camera doesn’t do him justice.”

“Uh…” How was Will supposed to respond to that? “Thanks?”

Nico rolled his eyes. “Aren’t you supposed to be straight? Anyway, Will, this is--”

“Wait,” Will stopped him, and squeezed Nico’s hand. “Let me see if I can guess.” He scanned the group for Frank and Hazel in order to greet them - with a hug for Hazel and handshake for Frank - as well as to narrow down the group a little further. He tried to remember the few pictures that Nico had showed him so many months ago, and recognized another face. “Piper, right? And that would make you Jason.” He shook each of their hands before looking back at the remaining three. “Annabeth, it’s great to finally put a face to the voice.” He shook her hand as well, and then stepped back to shoot Nico a  _ look _ before he said, “And I don’t think Nico has mentioned either of two you before, sorry.”

“What? No way!” the dark-haired man exclaimed. “No, that  _ can’t _ be right. We just FaceTimed earlier!”

Will shrugged. “I’m sorry, guys, but the only other people that Nico ever mentioned were Reyna and Thalia, and I’m pretty sure they’re not you.”

The shorter of the two turned to Nico and exclaimed, “You told him about  _ Thalia, _ but not  _ me?” _

“Oh, come on, you know my wife, so you  _ have _ to know me!” said the taller.

“Oh my god, Jase,” he heard Piper whisper, “look at Nico’s face.”

Will glanced down at his fiance to see Nico practically beaming up at him with hearts in his eyes, and Will smiled back.

“He knows who you are,” Nico said to his friends, though he didn’t look away from Will.

Will broke eye contact first and turned back to the rest of the group. “Yeah, I do, I’m just not sure which is which.”

“Leo’s the short one,” Nico said, to which Leo replied, “Look who’s talking.”

“And you’re Percy,” Will said, shaking his hand, before turning to Leo to do the same. 

“Are you done now?” Nico asked.

Will smiled and said, “Yes, Darling.”

Nico turned to face his friends and said, “Everyone, this is my fiance, Will.” He tugged on Bianca’s hand to pull her out from behind him, and said, “And this is our daughter, Bianca. Bi, these are all your aunts and uncles.”

Will scanned their expressions - mostly shock from Jason, Piper, and Leo, and a sort of neutral happiness from Frank and Hazel - though rather than looking at them, he noticed that Percy and Annabeth were exchanging a concerned look. 

Annabeth started, “Uh, Neeks--”

“Don’t worry about it,” Nico told her, his smile unfailing, “we already know.”

 

They’d gone back to the car to get their things, and made sure they were settled into the cabin they would share with Frank and Hazel for the weekend before they regrouped with everyone else, just as the sun was beginning to set behind the cabins. They set up a few lawn chairs to complete the circle around the fire and joined in on the conversation. 

Nico waited until there was a lull to ask, “This isn’t everyone, is it? Where’s Luke? And wasn’t Grover going to try to make it this year?”

There was just enough light to see Annabeth roll her eyes from across the fire. “Luke’s in time out because I told him he couldn’t go swimming until tomorrow but he just ran right into the ocean fully clothed. I went to check on him while you guys were getting settled and found him sleeping, so we’re just letting him rest now.”

“And Grover got caught up in another protest somewhere in South America,” Percy said. “He said he’s gonna try to make it for Christmas this year, but he said that  _ last  _ year, _ and  _ the year before that…  _ Man, _ I miss Grover!”

“What about Sally?” Nico asked, tapping his fingers anxiously on his lap. He did  _ not _ need her approval, but no matter how many times he repeated that in his head, he couldn’t seem to make himself believe it.

“She’ll be here tomorrow,” Percy answered. “‘Stelle’s sick, so her and Paul won’t be able to make it, but Mom should be here by lunch tomorrow.”

“Cool,” Nico muttered, though his fingers kept tapping - until Will seemed to notice and set his hand over Nico’s on his lap. 

“Aw, do you need Sally’s approval on your choice of boyfriend?” Leo teased.

_ “Shut--” _ Nico stopped himself, glancing at Bianca out of the corner of his eye to see whether she was paying attention, “--your mouth, Valdez.”

“Approval for what?” Will asked with a grin, suspecting that he already knew the answer.

“Nothing,” Nico said quickly. “Leo’s just an idiot as always, and he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

“Are you sure you know what you’re getting yourself into here, Will?” Leo called from across the circle. “If you need us to save you from Neeks’s constant emotional abuse, blink twice.”

“Actually, Leo, I think that’s just you,” Piper cut in.

“You bring it on yourself, mostly,” Frank agreed.

Leo slumped down in his chair. “Why do I put up with this? I need new friends.”

“At least you admit to having friends,” Jason said, gaze sliding over to Nico. “Unlike somebody here.”

Nico groaned, knocking his head back and spotting a few stars dotting the darkening sky.

“Actually,” Will spoke up, and Nico feared for his life. “I distinctly remember Nico asking me to come here to  _ meet his friends.” _

Nico groaned again, louder this time, and reached over to shove at Will’s arm. “I hate you, why did I bring you here?”

“Because you love me,” Will told him, snatching up Nico’s hand before he could pull away and pressed a kiss to his knuckles.

Nico glared at him for just a moment before he slumped back in his seat, leaving his hand in Will’s grasp, and grumbled, “I guess.”

“Oh my god!” Piper squealed.

“Will, how did you get him to show any kind of emotion?” Percy asked. “We’ve been trying to get him to do that for  _ years!” _

“You are all the worst people I’ve ever met,” Nico announced, and tried to tug his hand back, but Will refused to release him.

“Maybe we are, but now we know that you’re capable of love,” Annabeth said. “We’ve known all along, of course, but now we’ve got physical evidence and eyewitness accounts.”

“I thought you were an architect, stop acting like a lawyer,” Nico complained.

Leo opened his mouth to join in on the teasing, but hesitated when he was nearly blinded by a pair of headlights pulling into the parking lot. The entire group seemed to freeze, staring back toward the newly parked car lined up alongside the rest of them, watching at the headlights went out.

“Uh, were we waiting on anyone else?” Will asked carefully.

“I don’t think so,” Hazel answered.

“No, we weren’t,” Jason agreed.

“Not until tomorrow at the earliest,” Percy said.

Nico rose from his seat. “I’ll go see who it is.”

Will tugged on his hand. “What? No, just stay here.”

“Relax, it’s probably just somebody looking for directions or something,” Nico said. “It’s fine, I’ll be right back, okay?”

“Just…” Will started with a frown. “Be careful?”

Nico nodded and Will finally released his hand - though not without a kiss first - allowing Nico to leave the circle around the fire and head in the direction of the road.

“Aw, you love him,” Piper cooed, drawing Will’s attention back.

Will shrugged, unable to hide a smile. “Well, yeah. We’re getting married.”

Annabeth leaned forward in her seat. “You know, speaking of the wedding--”

She was cut off by a cry of  _ “Oh my god!” _ and everyone’s heads snapped toward the source of the sound as Will jumped out of his seat.

“Nico?” he called after him, and was torn between running toward him and staying back with Bianca, though when he saw Jason rise from his own seat and start in the direction of the parking lot, Will moved protectively toward Bianca’s chair. 

He watched as a silhouette appeared in the darkness - oddly shaped but incredibly large and definitely humanoid. It looked like some kind of prank that someone would play after telling scary stories around a campfire. 

“Hello?” Jason called as he approached the figure, and Will knew that if that voice were coming toward him in the dark, then he would be afraid for his life. 

“Jason!” Nico shouted, followed by laughter. “Reyna’s here!”

They finally stepped into the light of the fire, and Will saw that Nico had been carried over on a woman’s back for some reason. As most of the group got to their feet to greet her - Reyna, Will assumed - Nico slid off her back and stepped away to drag Will and Bianca out of their seats to meet her. 

“Will, this is my best friend, Reyna,” Nico introduced them. “Reyna, this is my fiance, Will, and our daughter, Bianca.” Reyna shook Will’s hand and crouched down to do the same with Bianca.

Once introductions were made and Reyna had briefly caught everyone up with her travels, they all returned to their seats around the circle - Reyna took Bianca’s seat while Bianca sat on Will’s lap.

“So, Will,” Annabeth said once they were all settled back down, “I believe you were about to update us on your wedding plans.”

“Seriously? You’re harassing him about that now?” Nico asked.

“Clearly you weren’t going to give us any answers,” Percy argued. 

“We have invites for all of you in the car,” Will said, and Nico shot him a betrayed look. 

In a second, they were bombarded with questions - about the date, the location, arguments over who would be Nico’s best man. 

“You can read it all on the invite,” Nico shouted over their voices. 

“Oh, come on, give us the date, at least,” Piper demanded. 

Will answered, “December third.”

He expected a flood of questions regarding why they chose that date specifically, or even any kind of reaction that wasn’t a sudden silence falling over them as all eyes pointed toward Nico. 

“Stop looking at me like that, I’m fine,” Nico said with a roll of his eyes, though Will could see through his tough exterior to the discomfort he felt underneath. Will reached over to grab Nico’s hand, feeling him flinch at first before twining their fingers together. “Why do you keep pestering us about  _ our _ wedding, anyway? Piper and Jason have been engaged for  _ two years, _ when are  _ they _ getting married?”

_ “Please,” _ Piper huffed, “everybody knows that Jason and I love each other, but you’re going to have to give us proof.”

“Actually, I have plenty of proof--” Annabeth started, though Nico cut him off with a harsh  _ shh! _

“Annabeth, don’t you  _ dare,”  _ Nico hissed. 

“No, Annabeth, please share,” Will said, and grinned when his fiance turned to glare at him. 

“Who wants to be my best man?” Nico shouted, and Percy, Jason and Leo immediately started arguing their strongest points. Nico shot Will a smug grin before he leaned over to Reyna and asked, quiet enough the the others couldn’t hear, “Hey, Ra-Ra, will you be my best man?”

“I’d be honored,” she replied, and then they both sat back in their seats, apparently with no intentions to stop the arguing across from them. 

“Wait, what about Will’s best man?” Percy asked.

“He already asked his,” Nico answered, and smirked when Will frowned at him in confusion. “Oh, you don’t remember asking Cecil?”

Annabeth pushed herself up from her seat with a roll of her eyes in her husband’s direction, claiming that she was too sober for this, and went to a cooler a short ways away from the fire. “Who wants beer?” she called over, not even waiting for their responses as she loaded up her arms and shut the cooler, handing a bottle to everyone around the circle, though she skipped past Nico without even offering a drink. 

She held the last bottle in her hands out to Will, whose gaze flickered over to Nico for a moment - though he wasn’t paying Will any attention - before he replied, “Oh, uh, no thanks.”

“Alright,” she said with a shrug and stepped away, returning to her own seat. 

Will tried to sit up a little straighter in his seat without disturbing Bianca, though as he did so, he noticed that she had fallen asleep. Will squeezed the hand that he was still holding to get Nico’s attention and said, “Hey, Babe, I’m gonna go put Bi to bed, and I think I’m going to turn in, too.”

Nico pouted. “No, you can’t go to bed yet,” he whined, and Will leaned over to kiss the pout away. 

“I’ll see you in the morning, Darling. Catch up for a little while without me,” Will said. “I love you.”

“Love you, too,” Nico said softly, and let go of Will’s hand so that he could lift Bianca off his lap and rise out of his seat. 

“I’m heading to bed, I’ll see you all tomorrow,” Will announced, and left the circle to a chorus of  _ good nights. _

The circle was quiet for a few moments as Will made his leave, though once they heard the sound of the creaky cabin’s door falling shut, Leo asked, “You didn’t tell him, did you?”

“Tell him about--” Nico started to ask, though he remembered before he could finish his thought, and groaned as he tipped his head back against the back of his chair.  _ “No, _ I didn’t. I  _ knew _ I forgot to warn him about something.”

Percy clapped his hands and rubbed them together menacingly. “Well, as tradition states: first one to leave gets a million embarrassing stories told about them. And, Nico, since you’re the only with any material, it’s all on you.”

“I’ve got a suggestion,” Jason started, “how does he not remember asking somebody to be his best man?”

“And why did he look so freaked out when I offered him a beer?” Annabeth asked. “I mean, what are the chances you find someone else who doesn’t drink?”

“He’s not an alcoholic, is he?” Piper asked. 

Nico laughed softly. “No, not an alcoholic. And the best man story is  _ way _ funnier. You know how he was in a car accident a little while ago? So, he was high off his  _ ass _ on painkillers…”

 

* * *

 

Nico wasn’t allowed to head to bed until he’d told  _ every _ embarrassing story he had about Will, which meant that nobody really went to bed until around three in the morning. He probably would have slept half the day away if Bianca hadn’t climbed into their bed, waking them up to tell them that she was hungry. Nico wanted to hide his head under his pillow and pretend he was still asleep for another few hours, but instead he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes before getting up. At least he could drag Will out of bed with him. 

They got dressed and went out to see that only a few others were awake so far - Annabeth and Percy had likely been dragged out of bed by Luke, much like Will and Nico - and everyone aside from Leo looked like they were still half asleep. 

They approached Leo where he was crouched by the fire with assorted cooking supplies, and he eyed their connected hands with a whistle. “Wow, Neeks, I never thought you one for PDA.”

“I’d hardly consider you  _ the public,” _ Nico replied. “What do you have for breakfast?”

“Eggs and bacon, baby!” Leo announced with far too much energy considering how little sleep he’d gotten the night before - Nico was starting to wonder whether he’d bothered to sleep at all. “I figured I’d handle breakfast today since you weren’t awake yet, but you can make pancakes tomorrow.”

“Gee, thanks,” Nico replied. 

“You didn’t put anything in the eggs, did you?” Will asked. “Bianca has allergies.”

“Just a little bit of milk,” Leo answered, and he pointed to a couple of cast iron pots near the fire. “There’s scrambled eggs in there, and bacon in the other one, then I’ve got salt and pepper and shredded cheese if you want it over there with the plates and forks and stuff.” He pointed toward the cooler, where the salt and pepper shakers were set out on top of it.

“Thanks, Leo,” Will said, and stepped away to start making a plate for Bianca, and Nico made a plate for him and Will to share. 

As they sat down to eat, Will pulled Nico into his lap and snatched a piece of bacon off the plate.

Leo was gazing at them, shocked and confused. “Dude, who are you and what did you do with Neeks?”

Nico stuffed a bite of eggs into his mouth and said, “Stuff it, Valdez.” 

“There’s the Neeks we know and love!”

Nico fed Will a forkful of eggs, then took a bite off the piece of bacon Will held out for him. 

“Nope!” Leo announced, and jumped to his feet. “Can’t do it, it’s too weird.” He hurried away toward Percy, shouting out, “Percy, Neeks is being affectionate and it’s freaking me out!”

Nico rolled his eyes and twisted slightly on Will’s lap until he could meet his gaze. “Sorry you have to put up with a bunch of idiots just for me.”

“Are you kidding me?” Will asked, smiling at him softly. “Being here with you is a  _ gift.” _

Nico wrapped an arm around Will and threaded his fingers into the hair on the back of Will’s head, pulling his head to rest against Nico’s. “You’re such a sap.”

“A sap you’re in love with,” Will replied, and Nico hummed noncommittally as he dipped his head down for a kiss.

“Oh, god, Leo, you were right!” Percy exclaimed, and Nico looked up to see him slapping a hand over his own eyes before rushing away. “Oh, it’s horrible!”

Nico groaned. “All of my friends are  _ children.” _

 

Bianca had practically begged to go swimming once they’d finished their breakfast, so her and Will had gone to put on swim suits. Nico stopped Bianca before she could run into the water without sunscreen, though Will found himself distracted by a car that pulled into the parking lot. 

Will pulled on a t-shirt and slipped on his flip flops before heading toward the parking lot, not quite sure yet what his plan was but knowing he would figure it out once he got there.

He saw a woman get out of her car while he was still a short ways away, and when she saw him, she smiled so he waved back and continued forward. “Excuse me, Ms. Jackson?”

“Yes?” she responded, pausing before she reached to open the trunk of her car.

“Hi, my name is Will Solace,” he said. “I don’t know if Nico’s told you about me yet, but I’m his fiance.”

Sally’s smile brightened at his mention of Nico, and she held out a hand for him to shake. “He has mentioned you a few times, as a matter of fact. Fiance, you said?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, smiling proudly. “Can I help you with your bags?”

“Thank you, Will, that’s very kind of you,” Sally said. “Now, Percy said that I would be in the spare room in the cabin with him and Annabeth. Do you happen to know which one that is?”

“Yeah, it’s this one right here,” he said, pointing to the cabin closest to them. He lifted Sally’s suitcase out of her car and lead her toward the cabin. “It’s great that you were able to make it up here, Nico seemed pretty eager to talk to you in person.”

Sally smiled softly. “He never had a very great relationship with his own parents, you know, so ever since he moved in with me and Paul a couple of years ago, he’s treated me like his own mother. Not that I minded, of course, it had been getting a little lonely since Percy had moved out a few months earlier.”

Will nodded in understanding. “I met his dad and stepmom a few months ago, so I know what you mean. I’m glad he had you to look after him.”

“And I’m glad he has you now to do the same,” Sally replied. She stepped up to the door to the cabin and held out her hand to take her suitcase from Will. “Thank you again, Will. I’m just going to take a few minutes to get settled and then I’ll be right back out.”

“Please, take your time,” Will replied. “I’ll let Nico know you’re here.”

As Sally stepped into her cabin, Will headed back to his own to drop off his flip flops and t-shirt before heading down to the beach. He found Nico and Bianca sitting in the sand near the shore, Bianca smearing sunscreen unevenly across Nico’s cheeks.

When she saw him, Bianca exclaimed, “Daddy! Can we go swimming now?”

“You can go in the water, but don’t go in past your knees until I’m there with you, okay?” Will told her, and she nodded before running off toward the ocean. Will waited to make sure that Bianca didn’t go too far into the water before he offered a hand to help Nico to his feet, unable to hold back a snort when he saw the globs of sunscreen all over Nico’s face. 

“You’ve got a little something…” Will said, gesturing to his whole face.

Nico groaned and rubbed his arm across his face, though it didn’t do much. “She said that if she has to wear sunscreen, then so do I. How bad is it, really?”

Will grinned. “You’re going to have a  _ very _ interesting tan.” He reached his hands up and started to rub the sunscreen into Nico’s skin as he said, “So, Sally’s here.”

“She is? Where?” Nico asked, trying to look around for her, but Will’s grip on his cheeks was too strong. 

“In her cabin,” Will answered. “I told her that you were eagerly awaiting her arrival.”

“You already met her?” Nico asked, eyes widening.

“Yeah, is that a problem?” Will asked.

“No, no, of course not,” Nico said quickly. “I just… I haven’t really told her much of anything yet. I was waiting to talk to her in person.”

“Sorry, Babe,” Will started, “guess you won’t be able to brag about my dashing good looks since she already knows what I look like.”

“Shut up,” Nico said with a laugh, shoving gently at Will’s chest before immediately pulling him down for a kiss.

Will cringed and pulled back, wiping at his lips with the back of his hand. “Sunscreen,” he said as an explanation when Nico frowned up at him. 

“Daddy, swimming!” Bianca cried from behind them, and Will finally pulled himself away.

“Go hang out with your friends,” Will told him, and darted forward for another kiss, only to pull away once again to wipe at his lips. “Ugh, still there.”

He spun around and ran toward the water, scooping Bianca up once he reached her and falling backwards into deeper water. 

“I hear those two are yours,” someone said from behind Nico and he whipped around to see Sally standing behind him. She wrapped an arm around Nico’s shoulders and pressed a kiss to the side of his head, though she frowned when he found a white smudge near his temple. “Wearing sunscreen for once?” 

Nico rubbed at the side of his face with a groan. “Yes, unfortunately.” He rubbed at his skin for a second more before awkwardly lowering his hand and starting to pick at his nails. He cleared his throat before speaking again. “So, uh, you met Will. What do you think?”

“I think he seems like a very nice boy,” Sally told him. “And the girl out there with him, that’s his daughter?”

“Yeah,” Nico answered. “Bianca. I, uh, I adopted her. Legally. So she’s mine, too. You know, Will and I are getting married.”

Sally smiled softly, staring out at the water. “Yes, I think I heard something like that.”

Nico glanced up at her, knowing for certain that  _ he _ had not been the one to spill. “Will told you, didn’t he?”

“He did,” Sally laughed. “Introduced himself by saying,  _ do you know who I am? I’m Will, Nico’s fiance! _ He seemed pretty proud to say it, too, I might add.”

Nico smiled down at his hands, still nervously picking at the skin around his fingernails.

“I like him, Nico,” Sally told him, nudging him with her elbow. “I really do. He seems like a wonderful person, and you two seem like a great fit.” Nico sighed in relief, about to respond when Sally continued: “You know you don’t need my approval, right? All that matters is that you love each other, and you know full well that you don’t need me to tell you how to live your life.”

Nico nodded. “Of course. Thank you anyway, though. Your opinion does mean a lot to me.”

“So what if I had said I hated him?” Sally asked hypothetically. “What if I said that marrying him would be the worst mistake you ever made?”

Nico’s breath caught in his throat, momentarily afraid for a second that Sally might be serious, but he realized almost immediately that his answer would remain the same. “I guess I’d have to live with my mistake. I’m not sure that I could live without him anymore.”

Sally smiled brightly at him. “That’s the right answer. Now, when do I get a wedding invitation?”

 

* * *

 

Percy had put Luke to bed before they had all even gathered around the fire that night, and while Bianca had been yawning for quite a while, she insisted that she could stay awake to sit around the fire for a little while. Still, Will had made her sit on her lap, both to open up a seat for Reyna and so that he could carry her off to bed once he was certain she’d fallen asleep. 

However, just when Will was about to get up, Nico rose from his seat and carefully lifted Bianca from his lap. “I’ll take her,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to Will’s forehead. “You stay here and bond with my friends.” Nico turned to the rest of the group, specifically eyeing Percy and Jason, and said, “I’m not going to bed, I’m just dropping Bianca off, so you’d better not start anything, got it? I’ll be back in five minutes, tops.”

Nobody said much as Nico walked away, and Will was starting to worry that maybe the others weren’t all that interested in getting to know  _ him, _ when suddenly Percy said, “Alright, he’s gone. Will, has Nico ever told you the story of why he doesn’t drink?”

Will jumped when Percy said his name, not expecting to be addressed so directly. “Uh, do you mean  _ other _ than his sister?”

Percy grinned, the smile almost sinister in the light of the fire. “Yeah, other than that.”

Will shook his head as Piper said, “Perce, he’ll be back too soon, you don’t have time.”

“I have time,” Percy insisted, waving a hand in her direction. “So. It’s Christmas Eve, the year before Bianca died. Neeks is fourteen, Jason and Bianca are sixteen, me and Jason’s sister Thalia are seventeen. I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Neeks’s dad’s place in California, but there’s this  _ huge _ wine cellar, so we stole a couple of bottles, figured no one would notice. We all hid up in Bianca’s room and passed the bottles around until we were all a little tipsy, but Neeks--”

“He probably drank a whole bottle by himself,” Jason cut in.

“He couldn’t even stand up straight,” Percy continued. “It was  _ hilarious. _ And then, because his family’s Catholic, we all had to go to church at midnight for some reason - that’s why we were drinking, figured it would be a little more bearable that way. But Neeks, this scrawny little kid, is  _ wasted _ in the middle of church and at one of the quietest parts of the mass, he jumps out of his seat and runs to the back of the room. He throws up, right into one of those holy water pools they keep by the doors.”

“He hasn’t been to church since,” Jason said. “I think the last time he even stepped inside a church was Bianca’s funeral. Never abandoned his faith, though, I don’t think.”

Nico seemed to materialize from the shadows behind Percy, smacking him in the back of the head. “If you say one thing about me being Catholic  _ and _ gay, I’ll strangle you.”

“I wasn’t going to!” Percy exclaimed, then turned to Frank across the circle. “Frank, why didn’t you warn me that he was right there?”

Frank shrugged. “It’s dark, I didn’t see him until right before he hit you. Also, you kind of deserved it.”

Nico returned to his seat next to Will as the group swiftly changed topics of conversation. Will leaned toward Nico and asked, “Hey, uh, why did Percy wait until you were gone before he told that story?”

“It’s kind of this thing we do,” Nico answered quietly. “The first person to go to bed each night gets every embarrassing story brought up. It started when we were all still in high school, it was like a threat to stay awake all night or else you would get humiliated in the morning. It kind of just stuck with us, I guess. Percy takes any opportunity he can to tell embarrassing stories about me because him and Jason have known me the longest and I’m never the first to leave.”

Will frowned. “But I was the first to leave last night. Nobody knows any stories about me except for you.”

Even in the light of the fire, Will could see a blush rising on Nico’s cheeks. “Yeah, well, uh,” Nico started awkwardly. “I might’ve told a few stories. I meant to tell you! I really did mean to warn you, but then you were already gone and everyone was demanding stories--”

“What did you tell them?” Will cut in, fearfully.

“Just about when you were high after your surgery,” Nico said, ducking his head and picking at his nails. “And how you got chicken pox earlier this year. And...when you got drunk at your sister’s Christmas party.”

“No!” Will hissed. “You told them about after Kayla’s party? Nico, that was the most embarrassing thing I ever did in my  _ entire life, _ I was prepared to take that to my grave!”

“I’m sorry,” Nico replied with a tiny laugh at how dramatic Will was being. “They insisted that I do it. At least Hazel didn’t have anything to add, she remembers  _ everything _ and she can be  _ brutal.” _

Will groaned, dropping his head onto Nico’s shoulder. “I still can’t believe it. I think we both made the right choice to never drink again.”

Nico smiled and relaxed back into his seat, ready to jump back into the conversation, when Sally stood. “Well, everyone, I’m going to turn in for the night. I’ll see you all in the morning, goodnight!” 

Everyone in the circle replied with a chorus of “goodnight”s, and Sally made her way toward Nico’s end of the circle, stopping to press a kiss to Percy’s and Annabeth’s foreheads, then doing the same to Nico before she left.

Before anyone could get a chance to speak, Percy shouted, “Moms are off-limits!” Every head turned in his direction, some confused, some trying not to laugh. “For the story thing, you know what I meant!”

The circle erupted in laughter, which subsided after about a minute.

Annabeth asked, “So Hazel and Frank, don’t think we forgot that the two of you are getting married pretty soon, too.”

“Well, uh, maybe, maybe not,” Frank said, and a few people gasped. “Not like that! We’re getting married, just probably not with a wedding.”

Hazel reached over and squeezed Frank’s hand reassuringly. “We want to get married before Frank enlists, so we’ll probably just end up going to the courthouse when he gets his assignment. Then, after a little while, when we have more money saved up, we’ll have an actual, big wedding. We talked about it a little with Seph when we went to visit, and she seemed pretty excited, though she was apparently already looking forward to my  _ spring wedding.” _

“You’re all invited to come with us when we go to the courthouse, though,” Frank said. “After all, we legally need witnesses to be there, and we’ll need a best man and maid of honor.”

“And Nico’s already agreed to be the flower boy,” Hazel added with a smirk, and Will shot Nico a look that said  _ you  _ have _ to tell me that story, _ though Nico pretended that he didn’t see it. 

“Hey, speaking of best man,” Jason started, “Nico, you never picked one of us last night! Or did you hold off on choosing because you’re actually looking for a maid of honor? I assume you’re the bride, right?”

The pure annoyance radiating off of Nico was palpable. “Don’t be an asshole, Jason. That’s the kind of heteronormative bullshit I would expect from Percy, not you. But congrats, you’ve just gotten yourself crossed off the list.”

“Damn,” Jason said, and slumped back in his seat. Piper patted him on the shoulder and told him that he deserved to get crossed off for a statement like that.

At the same time, Percy and Leo shouted, “Ooh, pick me!”

Nico rolled his eyes. “I already picked Reyna, so would you all shut up?”

“Damn it!”

 

Leo ended up being the first to leave the group that night, and Will got to hear  _ three different stories _ about how Leo had managed to set himself on fire. It wasn’t long after that the rest of the group started to trickle away, Nico and Will leaving somewhere in the middle.

As Will settled himself into bed, Nico draped himself over his fiance and asked, “So, how much did they manage to tell you before I got back?”

“Don’t trust me not to use your secrets against you?” Will asked with a sleepy grin.

“I trust  _ you, _ of course. It’s the rest of them I’m not too sure about.”

“It was just the one story,” Will assured him. He stroked a hand through Nico’s hair - he hadn’t worn it down all weekend, and Will had missed running his fingers through it. “Why didn’t you ever tell me that you’re Catholic?”

Nico tucked his head underneath Will’s chin to keep him from analyzing his expression. “It’s not that important.”

“Sure it is. If it’s important to you, then it’s important to me. Is it important to you?”

Nico nodded, and Will started to scratch at his scalp gently, comfortingly. “When Bia and I were little, we hated going to church, but after my mom died… We kept going to feel close to her, but then  _ Bia--” _ He shook his hand. “I couldn’t make myself go back after her funeral.”

Will kissed the top of his head and whispered, “Thank you for telling me.” As one hand continued playing with Nico’s hair, Will brought his other to rub up and down Nico’s back. “You know, I think it’s pretty amazing that you’ve held onto so many friends for so long. I mean, I know Jason and Hazel are your family, but you’ve been friends with Percy and Reyna since  _ high school! _ After Bianca, I didn’t have the time to maintain any friendships from  _ med school, _ let alone  _ high school.” _

“Will,” Nico said, propping himself up so that he could shoot Will a  _ look, _ “I graduated high school, like, five years ago, it hasn’t been  _ that _ long.”

Will’s eyes widened as the realization hit him, and just before Nico could comment, Will rolled them over and buried his face in the side of Nico’s neck as he started to whine. “God, how could I  _ forget that? _ I’m  _ so old! _ Nico,  _ please _ tell me I’m not the oldest one here.”

“Of course you’re not,” Nico told him. “Sally’s  _ at least _ forty-five by now.”

Will groaned loudly as Nico started to laugh.

 

* * *

 

They handed out wedding invitations the next morning before Jason and Piper left. Leo never hung around long after those two left, so he said his goodbyes just after lunch. Nico had high hopes that he wouldn’t end up thrown into the water since it usually took both Percy and Jason to drag him that far down the beach, though of course he underestimated his best friend’s ability to embarrass him when Reyna scooped him up on her own and ran at full speed toward the ocean. Bianca, Percy, and Luke had run into the water after them, leaving Will and Annabeth to watch them from the shore.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him as happy as he is with you,” Annabeth said out of the blue, and Will’s head snapped toward her. “I’m sure he’s told you about all of the rough times he’s been through, so you can imagine how worried we’ve all been for him all this time. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy he found you, but if you do something to--”

“Are you threatening me?” Will asked, genuinely confused.

Annabeth grinned. “I wouldn’t call it  _ threatening, _ but I’m certainly giving you a warning.”

Will laughed, just a quick puff of breath. “I thought I was in the clear once Jason left without giving me the shovel talk, but I guess not. Don’t get me wrong, you’re all very intimidating, but Jason looks like he could snap my bones like a twigs.”

“Please,” Annabeth said with a laugh. “Jason’s a sweetheart. If there’s anybody you need to worry about, it’s Reyna. You saw the way she carried Neeks across the beach - if you mess up, she’s the one with the means and motive to kill you.”

“Good to know,” Will said, trying to laugh it off though he wasn’t sure whether Annabeth was joking or serious. “And good thing I plan on spending every day for the rest of my life making Nico as happy as possible.”

“Sunshine, are you  _ trying _ to embarrass me?” Nico called as he trudged up the beach. He dropped himself onto Will’s lap, who immediately recoiled from the cold water now soaking into his clothes.

“Babe, you’re  _ soaking wet, _ get off of me!” Will exclaimed, but Nico just glanced at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, no shit, I was just in the  _ ocean,” _ Nico replied. “And I’m not going to sit on the  _ ground, _ then I’ll get all sandy.”

Will rolled his eyes but resigned himself to his fate and draped his arms around Nico’s waist with a huff. “Fine, I guess you can stay.”

“So, what were you two talking about?” Nico asked.

Annabeth shrugged. “Nothing much, just made a few empty threats, that’s all.”

Nico narrowed his eyes.  _ “Annabeth,” _ he said warningly. 

“I said  _ empty _ threats, Neeks!”

As he started to pull his hair out of the bun on the top of his head, Nico turned to face Will. “Do you feel threatened?”

Will set his chin on Nico’s shoulder, tightening his hold around Nico’s waist. “I feel much safer now that you’re here, Darling.”

“I didn’t say anything!” Annabeth argued again, twisting to face them completely, and her eyes widened when Nico finally pulled his hair loose. “Holy shit, Neeks, your hair is almost as long as mine! When was the last time you got a haircut?”

Nico rolled his eyes, refusing to answer as he started to ring his hair out into the sand. 

“Hey, Will!” Percy called from the shore. “You better not let Neeks catch you with a girl on your lap! Oh man, Neeks, is that  _ you? _ You look like a girl, dude!”

Nico raised his middle finger at Percy, though Annabeth smacked his hand down before Luke or Bianca could see. Nico watched with glee as Reyna tackled Percy into the water in payback for the comment. 

“Hey, Will, by the way,” Nico said, “Reyna’s flight was overbooked, so she needs someplace to stay for the next couple of days. Is it okay if she comes to stay with us?”

“Of course,” Will said, smiling at his fiance, before his eyes flickered over to Annabeth as she drew a finger across her throat, then started to laugh. Will tried not to let that get to him. 

 

* * *

 

Will was on edge for the next two days, and it was all thanks to Annabeth. Everyone who was still left at the beach returned home on Monday morning, and Reyna followed Will and Nico home in her rental car. He was sure he was worrying for nothing - even if Will had upset Nico in some way, which he would  _ never do, _ it wasn’t like Reyna would actually  _ hurt  _ him, right? Besides, Nico seemed so happy to see his best friend after so long, and Will wasn’t about to ruin that by asking Reyna to leave.

He was grateful to head back to work on Tuesday if only to avoid upsetting Nico or Reyna in some way, though he knew he could only stay away for so long before it started to look like he was actively  _ trying _ to avoid them. He still ended up overshooting and stayed at the hospital much later than he intended, completely missing dinner and finally walking through the front door right at Bianca’s bedtime. 

Will rushed to kick his shoes off and practically ran toward Bianca’s room, stopping outside just as Nico left the room, about the close the door behind himself. “Cutting it a little close, don’t you think, Sunshine?” Nico asked, and Will nodded.

“I know, I’m sorry,” Will said, and pressed a kiss to Nico’s cheek before he slipped through Bianca’s door. He stepped toward her bed as quietly as possible and sat down on the edge of the mattress. He whispered, “Bi, are you still up?”

“Daddy?” she asked, and stretched her arms up for a hug. 

Will complied, and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’m sorry I’m late, Bi. I’ll do my best to be home earlier tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay,” she answered. “I love you.”

“I love you, too, Bi. Goodnight.” He kissed her forehead once more and pulled her blanket up to her chin before he tiptoed back out of the room, shutting the door softly behind himself. 

“You know, you really worry him when you come home so late,” Reyna said from behind him, and Will jumped. 

He turned to see Reyna sitting on the couch, looking at her phone, and for a second Will thought he’d imagined her voice, but then she looked up at him with one eyebrow raised. 

“I know I do,” Will answered, and moved toward her, though he couldn’t make himself sit down on the couch. “It’s not always my fault, though. I don’t exactly have set hours at the hospital.”

“You can’t take a second to send him a text?” 

Will’s jaw clenched. Was Reyna trying to antagonize him? Did she want him to get angry? “Do you want me to make excuses for myself? I  _ know _ I can do better, but I’m still trying to figure out how.”

“Do you always work twelve-hour days, or is that just when you have unwanted guests in your home?” Reyna tried again.

Will hesitated. “... _ Unwanted _ guests? No, Reyna, I think there’s been a misunderstanding. Of course I  _ want _ you here, you’re Nico’s best friend!”

“Sure,  _ Nico _ wants me here. That doesn’t mean that  _ you _ do.”

Will stuttered, stumbling over his reply before he ran his hands down his face and dropped onto the couch beside Reyna. “I  _ do _ want you here,” he finally started after a pause to collect his thoughts. “I want to get to know you, because I want to get to know  _ all _ of Nico’s friends,  _ especially _ his best friend. But now I’m…” He sighed, dropping his gaze and hunching forward to plant his elbows on his knees. “I’m intimidated by all of you. Both because Annabeth told me you could pretty much kill me with a snap of your fingers, but also because you know Nico so much better than I do. What if I start talking, and you realize that I’m not good enough for him? Or--”

“What the hell is going on?” Nico called from the hallway. He must have gone to change into pajamas because he generally didn’t wear Will’s clothes except to sleep in, but now he was wearing Will’s old basketball shorts and an oversized t-shirt that Will couldn’t see the design on because Nico had his arms crossed angrily over his chest. 

He stomped toward them, only stopping once he stood over them and glared down at each of them in turn. He shot a mean look at Reyna first. “Did you threaten him? Are you trying to plant doubts in his head? I thought you were  _ happy for me, _ Reyna!”

“No, Nico, I promise--”

He turned his glare to Will. “And  _ you. _ Why do you care what anyone else thinks?  _ I love you,  _ that’s all that matters. I don’t care if you know everything about me or not. And you shouldn’t be afraid of my friends for  _ any reason, _ because if you do something wrong,  _ I’ll _ kill you before any of them could even find out.” 

Nico took a deep breath and glanced between them. “Are you good now?”

Will and Reyna exchanged a look, and nodded. 

“Yeah, we’re good,” Reyna assured him. “I’m sorry, Nico.”

“I’m sorry too, Darling,” Will told him. “It won’t happen again.”

“Good.” Nico dropped onto the couch between them and leaned against Will’s side. “If it does happen again, I’m not kidding, I can and will kill you.”

Will pressed his forehead against the side of Nico’s head. “I believe you. But you wouldn’t leave Bianca without a father, would you?”

“Jokes on you,  _ I’m _ her dad now, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!!

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!!


End file.
